Arcade Days: December 2013 Challenge
by LNPittman
Summary: A series of one-shots for a self-imposed Story A Day challenge. Most will fit into the timeline of King Glitch and Missing Pieces, with a variety of characters featured.
1. The Roster

"Taffyta! Hey, Taffyta!"

At first, she tried to ignore the voice behind her. The arcade was opening and the strangers from other games and the horrible glittering bugs and the fake king were all gone and Vanellope was going to race in spite of everything they'd all said and done for so long; it was a lot to think about, a lot to absorb, and if she just held out a few minutes the prin-_president_ would have to leave her alone with it.

"Taff, wait up! Please?"

The wavery plea in Vanellope's voice was familiar, the first constant since she'd appeared on the track mid-race. Taffyta gulped and sighed and turned, eyes lowered as the other girl scurried to her.

"Hey, uh... Taffyta? You're uh... not still upset about the execution thing right? I mean I didn't mean it, and I-"

"No."

The word was forced out in a small, sad tone. Vanellope was silent; after a moment Taffyta forced her gaze up to meet the president's, and Vanellope cleared her throat and spoke again.

"Um... a...anyway. See, Taff, we kinda got a problem." She began pacing in that familiar restless way. "Yanno, I was the only one to cross the finish line today. And a whole lot of racers got knocked outta the race before those bugs took over. Like way more than usual."

Taffyta pursed her lips, head tilting as she fumbled for a lollipop.

"Yeah, so?"

Vanellope grinned, coming to a stop.

"Yeah, so, we only had seven qualified racers! That's two less than nine if you're keeping track." She paused, voice hesitant again. "I, uh, gave slot number eight to Candlehead. Because, yanno... sometimes she... I dunno, I guess sometimes she forgot and was nice to me, when..."

_When you weren't around._ The unspoken hung heavy between them a moment before Taffyta crunched down on her lollipop to break the silence.

"Yeah, I... I guess that's fair." She bit her lip to keep the question at bay, hoping Vanellope was too restless and too pressed for time to keep her hanging; she was swiftly rewarded as the other girl stepped closer.

"So, um. I... I want you to have the ninth slot. I mean, if you want it!" Taffyta looked up, silently questioning, and Vanellope cleared her throat, words tumbling over each other and hands waving as she tried to explain. "I mean I... I know things were tense, and, well, yeah, and you see, it's not - not supposed to be like that and I know you thought I was gonna wreck the game and that's why you were so - but I'm not, Taffyta, honest, and I want... I mean, I don't want any hard feelings because I wanted to race but I also wanted to hang out with you guys and I wanted to be one of you and... and... and..."

_I just wanna race like you guys!_

Taffyta swallowed hard, biting the lollipop stick nearly in half.

"And... hey, I gotta prove myself against the best on the first day, right?"

Taffyta stared at Vanellope's outstretched hand and then slowly raised her eyes to her face, vision blurring as she took in the too-familiar expression - tentative hope half-covered with bravado.

Then she let out a great, wrenching sob, burying her face in her hands.

Vanellope stood dumbfounded a moment, glitching briefly; a second later she was hesitantly wrapping her arms around Taffyta, awkwardly patting her back.

"H-hey...! Come on now, I... I... please? Hey..."

"I'm sorry! I'm _sorry_!" She found herself clinging to Vanellope, leaning against her. "I... I _knew_!"

"What?" Vanellope's clumsy pats stopped as she - they - glitched; she didn't push Taffyta away, though, and the blonde shivered as her code scattered and reordered.

"I knew," she repeated softly. "When... when we were... your pedal kart... and you grabbed me and glitched, I... I _knew_, just for a second! I was scared and mad and confused but then it was... was gone, I forgot again and I was still scared and mad and I thought it was at you but it was at whoever made me forget, but I thought it was you and I didn't remember what it really was until the reset and..."

"Stop crying, Taffyta."

The statement was soft this time, gentle, and Taffyta looked up at Vanellope to see tears standing in _her_ eyes too.

"It's... you were mad at the wrong thing. That's okay - I didn't know either. And we'll deal with it, okay?" She offered a grin, head tilting. "So - you wanna race, or not?"

Taffyta gulped again and smiled, scrubbing at her face with one fist.

"Yeah. Let's race."

Vanellope hopped back then, bright-eyed and cocky once more.

"Great! Last one to the starting line's a rotten creme egg!"

She took off without another word, and Taffyta stared for a stunned moment.

Then she was off too, laughing as she gave chase.


	2. The Tram

Preoccupied as he was with the thought of returning to Sugar Rush, Ralph did not immediately realize he wasn't alone on the tram. He simply settled in with the cakes gained from a tentatively friendly Mary, ignoring the old machine's usual groans and savoring the unusual sense of anticipation until the small figure ahead of him gave what was meant to be a polite cough.

"Ralph."

He jumped at the cautious, strained voice, juggling the cakes briefly as the tram started, and blinked down at the darkhaired little man as he recovered.

"Oh! Uh... Gene. I mean, evening. I didn't, uh, see you there."

"Mm." Gene frowned slightly at that - deciding whether to be offended, Ralph surmised - but nodded slightly after a moment, glancing at the cakes. "Heading to that game you wound up in last night, are you?"

"Yeah." Ralph brightened, grinning a bit. "Uh... Mary said Felix told you guys about that between games..."

Gene nodded, expression closed as he turned to face forward; Ralph fidgeted briefly in the silence, wondering when the ride to Game Central had gotten so absurdly long.

"Uh, so," he said after a moment. "Speaking of. I noticed you guys beat me and Felix back to the game this morning... thought everyone had left, didn't know what we were gonna do..."

"We had," Gene said slowly. "The second time you left, though - seemed a bit different. Seemed like you knew what you were doing." He paused. "I'd never seen it outside of game time. We decided it couldn't hurt to wait and see."

Another moment of silence. Ralph glanced at the light ahead, wondering just how long the tunnel actually was.

"Thanks," he said finally, the word a bare rumble over the sound of the tram. Gene was still a long moment, and Ralph wasn't certain he'd heard until the other man gave the barest of nods. "And... look. About last night-"

"I know." Gene's voice was as quiet as Ralph's had been, but the tone was very final: this was not a matter up for discussion, at least not yet, and at least for now Gene felt nothing more needed to be said. Ralph fell silent, deciding to let it be.

Besides - perhaps it was imagined, but he was sure there was also just the barest hint of _me too_ in Gene's tone and posture.

Another long silence and then finally - mercifully - they reached their destination, the announcer's cool, even voice marking their arrival at GSC. Gene hopped from the tram with typical Nicelander spryness and walked briskly toward the outlet and whatever destination he had in mind, and Ralph rose a bit more ponderously to head off on his own errands.

Before they quite reached the station proper Gene suddenly stopped. Ralph stopped as well, keeping the distance constant, and watched uncertainly as Gene stood still for several seconds; finally he turned back toward Ralph, not quite meeting the wrecker's gaze as he straightened his cardigan.

"By the by, Ralph, since the party was... er... cut short, we're having a less elaborate sort of gathering this weekend."

Ralph only nodded; after a moment Gene nodded as well, drawing himself up with a bit of his usual self-importance.

"You _will_ be there...?"

Ralph nodded again mutely before realizing a verbal response was preferable; he was still nodding as he spoke.

"Uh, yeah. I mean uh, I'll be there."

"Good, good." Gene nodded again, briskly, and turned to march off again. "Well, I suppose I'll see you later, then."

"Uh, right. Later."

No reply; Gene was gone. Ralph stood alone in the outlet a moment, nonplussed; then he smiled slightly, starting off himself.

Awkward as it was, things were looking up across the board.


	3. The Medal

"All right, Wreck-it. You've got five seconds to tell me what you're doing here."

Calhoun stood with one fist on hip and the opposite hand balancing her rifle against a shoulder, scowling up at the bulky man who'd dared return to Hero's Duty after the debacle at Sugar Rush a few nights ago. Ralph stared at her a moment, wide-eyed (a bit intimidated, she realized with a certain satisfaction), before finally holding out one large fist, opening it to reveal a gleam of gold on his palm.

"I... well, I thought I should probably bring this back."

Her eyes flicked to the medal, brow raising as she studied it a moment before looking back up at him.

"Huh. So you actually got hold of it." She pursed her lips; whether it was to hide a smile or a grimace even she couldn't say for sure. "Markowski said that was what you were about." A pause, and she allowed herself the tiniest quirk of the lips. "Fix-it might've said you'd gone squirrely over it, come to think of it."

Ralph scowled slightly, starting to protest. Then he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah. Guess I kinda did." He was still holding out the medal, Calhoun having never moved to take it; he shifted his weight, rolling his shoulder lightly. "Uh, what happened to that guy anyway? Haven't seen him at Tapper's again, I kinda wanted to, uh, apologize."

"You won't see him at Tapper's anytime soon," Calhoun drawled, both brows raised now. "Letting a civilian get hold of Marine equipment is a pretty serious offense. Let alone letting a civilian put themselves in the bug's den."

Ralph squirmed on his feet, looking away.

"It, uh, wasn't exactly his idea. He told me no actually, but he... kinda... ran into a wall." Calhoun's mouth quirked again in spite of herself; this seemed to encourage Ralph and he grinned, rocking on his feet. "I mean _straight_ into a wall, knocked himself cold. Bet he was lucky the rest of your guys didn't see that, heh!"

Calhoun had gotten her amusement under control and merely stared at him; after a moment Ralph cleared his throat, gaze lowering slightly.

"I mean, uh. It's not like he gave it away and all."

"Didn't figure," Calhoun said evenly. "But he still lost it. Ease up, I didn't ditch him in Undead Apocalypse if that's what you're worried about. He's confined to game is all, until he can catch Felix." She shrugged, remembering only a moment later that she wasn't supposed to be on first-name basis with these yahoos. "Fix-it's been learning to help with after-closing clear-outs, so he gets plenty of chances."

"Yeah, I knew he'd started hanging out here before we meet at the race." If Ralph had comments about the name slip or Felix's new routine, he kept them to himself; smarter than he looked, she decided. "Catching him, though? _Yeesh_. Have you ever seen him get going, I mean _really_ get going?"

"Yeah. First time he came in we mistook him for a hostile." Calhoun grinned a bit. "About four of us opened fire and not a one of us could hit him." Her tone was more admiring than she'd meant it to be; Ralph stared at her with brows raised until she cleared her throat, glancing again at the medal he was offering.

Seemed he wasn't getting the message.

"Isn't your arm getting tired?"

"Well, uh, _yeah_." He puffed his cheeks in annoyance. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I wanted to apologize get this back where it belonged, though, so I hunted out where it fell after I threw it and-"

"Keep it."

He cut off immediately, blinking at her.

"Wha...? But-"

"You heard me." She shrugged lazily, reaching out to shove his hand down; he complied, blocky fingers closing over the medal. "Keep it."

"But..." He looked at the medal, bewildered. "I didn't..."

"You earned it," she said simply. Ralph shook his head slightly, and she scowled. "Don't question me, civilian. One: you made it to the top of the tower."

"Didn't fight bugs though, I just climbed the outside, and-"

"And made it through the eggs, didn't you." She waited for his nod. "Wouldn't have thought you could to look at you. Anyway, the only rule is make it to the top. Two: you cleared out Sugar Rush when no one else saw a way. Granted it was just cleaning up your own mess, but you did it."

"I had to," he said quietly. "Vanellope... she..."

"I know," she said just as quietly before clearing her throat and assuming her usual tone, the Sergeant tone. "And three: your sugar solution gave me one hell of an idea. Sugar Rush has a built-in beacon; bet we can rig it elsewhere and secure every game in this arcade."

Ralph nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah? Hey, yeah! I mean, the street lights in Niceland, or Burger Time's stoves... I bet we _could_."

"Yup. I probably would have thought of it sooner or later, but your little volcano sacrifice sped it up." She shifted her weight slightly. "Anyway. Surge Protector didn't alert when you moved the medal between games today, did he?" She waited for Ralph to shake his head, and nodded in response. "See there? It's yours."

"I..." He nodded after a moment. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me - you earned it. And _don't_ try that again."

"Ohhh believe me, I'm done medal hunting," Ralph said. "I mean, uh... yes ma'am." He saluted, and she decided to ignore the sarcastic flavor of the gesture as she turned to march off.

"Good. Come on, then - you can talk to Markowski, and then we'll head out to Cavity Queen's race once cleanup's done. We'll discuss the beacon initiative with Fix-it while we're at it."

He hesitated a moment, looking at the medal again and then at her retreating figure. Then he hastily tucked the medal into his overalls and hurried after her.

"Yes ma'am!"


	4. Remnants

She didn't often bother to notice them, but when she did the King Candy decorations left in Sugar Rush disturbed Vanellope.

It had taken a few days to notice them; in the daze of moving into the castle and having a nervously apologetic Sour Bill attending her she hadn't immediately noticed the occasional stained glass portrait, and in the excitement of _finally_ racing, of taking her place with the others at the Roster Race, she hadn't immediately noticed the King-shaped flower arrangements at Royal Raceway. Felix had assured her that the KC on the grandstand likely meant kettle corn, and he and Ralph and Calhoun all assured her that the remaining portraits were probably a few stray carry-overs - and after all, her own portrait appeared now again in windows and on banners along Royal Raceway and Vanilla Bean Beach.

Truth be told, the excitement of learning (remembering?) that the pretty white course through fragrant dunes was meant to be her very own theme track still sometimes distracted her from the reminders.

But the reminders were still there three weeks after the reset, and even after three weeks the sight of them gave her the tiniest itching feeling of something not quite right.

_It's probably nothing. The game'll work out a few more kinks and it'll all be gone and everything'll be like it's supposed to._

Today, she had better things to worry about. Today, she - with a little help from her primary player, a blonde girl in pink glasses - had finally achieved what all the other racers took for granted.

Today, she'd won enough races to unlock a few portraits - items she'd seen the other racers gain but never dreamed she even had waiting for her in her days as The Glitch. She couldn't see them when they were first unlocked and faced out for the player to see, but the arcade was closed now, and the others assured her that the portraits would be waiting in her room.

She _was_ a real racer. She was always getting new proof of it.

So she stuck her tongue out at one of the smiling window portraits and dashed off, pushing thoughts of him out of her mind.

* * *

It didn't take long to find the pictures - they were waiting on her dresser when she burst into her room, sparkling faintly until she picked them up. Three of them in the pastel style that unlocked portraits usually came in - some kind of concept art, she'd been told.

Vanellope smiled, holding them against her chest a moment before taking a good look at the top one.

King Candy smiled up at her. She dropped her pictures with a gasp, stumbling back.

Again.

Why again?

These were supposed to be her pictures, her victory.

_Hers_.

After a few heart-pounding moments she recovered enough to notice the layered skirt of her princess dress. She wrinkled her nose and stepped forward, gingerly picking the picture up again.

King Candy was still there - she hadn't imagined it - but so was Sour Bill, and so was she. She was between them, perched on a huge marshmallow cushion on the throne, with the other two flanking her; she was smiling, and so was King Candy, while Bill stood dour as ever.

_Vanny, what'll you bet we can make him laugh while we're supposed to be posing?_

She shivered at the echo of memory and set the picture aside, picking up the next.

Another smiling King Candy, and her again - a look pf pure delight on her face as she pulled a white helmet decorated with a gold crown emblem from a bright pink and green giftbox.

_It's really okay for me to race too?_

_Of _course_ it is, Vanellope! In fact I can't wait to see what you can do!_

She shook her head to clear it, glancing toward the wardrobe where an identical helmet waited.

"So what happened?" she mumbled. When had he _ever_ wanted her to race?

_Always._

She shook her head again, putting the picture carefully aside and picking up the last.

Another King Candy, another Princess Vanellope. Sour Bill was with them again too, the three walking in line.

This one, at least, triggered no echoes in her head - just a strange, wistful feeling.

"Why are you here?" she muttered, sitting so she could arrange all three in front of her. "What's going on?"

"Vanellope!"

She jumped at Taffyta's voice, scrambling to her feet and hastily jamming the pictures into her hoodie pocket.

"Yeah?"

Taffyta peeked in, glancing curiously around the room before her gaze settled on Vanellope.

"Your spectators are here, yanno. You're not sitting out of a Roster Race already, are you?"

"Pff, you wish." Vanellope dredged up a grin, marching forward. "That scared, huh?"

Taffyta grinned back, arms crossing.

"_You_ wish. Are we doing this?"

"You bet we are!"

She dashed out ahead of Taffyta, thoughts drifting again as they made their way back to Royal Raceway; today, the King Candy flower arrangements looked more prominent than usual.

Just who _was_ he?

And what did that mean for her?


	5. The First Day

"Yanno, you don't have to do that anymore."

Vanellope gave Ralph a sidelong look, adjusting her goggles.

"What?"

He smiled slightly, reaching down to flip her hood back with one finger. Vanellope squawked and defensively grabbed for it, shooting furtive looks at the candy fans lining the stands and the other racers gather in front of the royal box; Ralph gave a low, indulgent chuckle and she glared up at him before looking away with a tiny smile.

"I know, I know. I just..." She twiddled her thumbs lightly, glancing up at him. "I just... I guess I'm kinda waiting to wake up."

"Oh." He studied her a long moment, frowning just a bit before smiling and reaching toward her again. "Want me to pinch you?"

"Yeep! No!" Vanellope giggled and swatted his hand as he mimed pinching at her, finally pushing the goggles up onto her forehead. "Cut it out, stinkbrain! I know I'm not dreaming, okay?" She grasped his thumb in both hands, leaning against him. "It's better. I raced _all day_, Ralphie... did you see?"

"A little. When I got thrown off the building, mostly." She laughed at that before clamping a hand over her mouth; Ralph grinned, shrugging a little. "I can see pretty well from up there. But not for long. So - how'd it go?"

"I raced all day," she repeated slowly. "And the gamers..."

She paused, and Ralph knelt as he nudged her encouragingly with a forefinger.

"Yeah?"

"They _liked_ me." There was wonder in her tone, eyes wide and bright as she looked up at him, words coming fast. "They were all 'hey I've never seen that racer' and 'who's the blackhaired girl?' and 'look it's the one in the picture' and 'she's cute' and then I glitched just a little at the starting line because I was nervous and sometimes I do just a little, I don't do the big glitches unless I mean to mostly but it scared me, I thought they'd think the game was broken like... like everyone always said and it'd be like before and they were all 'did you see that' and everything and then..."

She was half-choking on the words; Ralph picked her up carefully, cradling her against his chest, and she nestled in like a kitten.

"But then I raced after all, and I didn't glitch at all, not even a special, and the girl who picked me said I was cool." She leaned back, smiling up at him. "She said she was glad I showed up the first time she got to play and she wanted to pick me again tomorrow."

"Didn't I tell you I had the coolest friend in the world?" Ralph said softly. Vanellope nodded, eyes shining, and he stood. "And didn't I tell you they were gonna love you? That girl's just the first."

"You really think so?"

"Hey, have I been wrong before?" Vanellope bit her lip and grinned, one brow raising; Ralph rolled his eyes and flicked her ponytail. "I mean about this. Anyway, if your new friend's gonna pick you tomorrow you gotta be on the roster." He held his hand out, balancing her on the palm and facing her toward the track. "So you ready?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'm ready." A deep breath. "First official end-of-day speech and the Roster Race." She smoothed her hoodie and settled her goggles back over her eyes. "Yesterday was the hard part, I _got_ this."

"You got this."

He walked her to the Royal Box, setting her down in front of the stairs and taking a place beside it; Vanellope grabbed his thumb one last time and waited for his reassuring smile before scurrying up to her place. Sour Bill insisted on announcing her; she listened for her cue, barely hearing him over her pulse pounding in her ears.

What she _did_ hear loud and clear was Ralph cheering to drown out the rest of them. She grinned, letting it drown her nerves, and stepped out to greet her citizens.


	6. The Proposal

"I want to marry Felix."

Kohut glanced at his superior when she spoke, taking a long drink as he appraised her mood. Calhoun was staring into her own drink, nose wrinkled and brow furrowed in irritation (maybe at herself, maybe at Fix-it, probably at the world in general), but there was an almost wistful undertone to her voice and expression. So he shrugged, setting his drink down with a clunk.

"Was wondering when you'd get around to it."

She glanced at him, blue eyes barely visible behind blonde fringe.

"Not gonna give me the 'everyone else already knows' routine, are you?"

"No." He paused, giving her the tiniest hint of a grin. "But we do."

Calhoun snorted, snatching up her drink and taking a graceless gulp.

"Yeah, well. Hope all bets are in."

"Now what makes you think we'd ever bet on a thing like that?"

The statement finally got just a little smile out of her; she squashed it quickly and stared hard at him until he looked away.

"If you're engaged by Saturday I win the pot."

She chuckled in spite of herself, draining her drink.

"Yeah, well. All's quiet on that front so far."

"If _you're_ not talking? Sure it is."

Calhoun glanced at him, brow raising, and he smiled indulgently.

"Come on," he said after a moment, more gently. "You gave me hell for spilling the beans - you really think he forgot?"

"I..." She sat back a bit, brow furrowing again. "No. He pushes a little. But he's careful."

"Exactly." Kohut stood, leaving a few coins on the bar. "Careful. Fix-it watches, Fix-it pays attention, Fix-it worries about hurting or scaring or upsetting Tammy Jean."

"You ever call me that again I'm cutting you loose in Dragon's Lair, sans armor."

"Sure, Sarge. Just don't let Markowski win it, all right?" He punched her shoulding in passing; she returned fire and he yelped and laughed as he strode out.

* * *

She left the bar much later than she intended - in fact, not until Tapper firmly told her he wasn't serving her anymore (and managed to stare her down too, the old bastard - she wouldn't let him forget it any time soon).

Hero's Duty was directly across from Tapper's, but Calhoun still managed to get turned around.

So turned around that she found herself staring up at Niceland Apartments instead of the tower.

"I meant to do that," she grumbled aloud. She stared at the building a moment longer and then nodded. "Yup. 'Zackly where I wanna be."

Felix never locked his door and had the only apartment on his floor; once she was certain she'd counted the right number of steps she stumbled in, making her weaving way to the bedroom and squinting at the blanket-wrapped form a moment to be doubly sure.

It was him all right - he looked nothing like the other Nicelanders, and there was just enough light to see rumpled brown hair and large, round nose sticking out of his cotton cocoon.

"Hey. Felix. Wake up."

He stirred and murmured, but didn't wake; she frowned and leaned foward to poke him.

"Fix-it. I gotta talk to you."

He didn't more again, so she stole his pillow and hit him with it.

"Awk...!" That did it; he bolted up with a squawk and tumbled off the bed, lying at her feet in a puddle of blankets before blinking blearily up at her.

"Tammy Jean...?"

She meant to pick him up, but the room swayed uncomfortably when she leaned down like that and she wound up sitting on the floor instead. Well, she could still pick him up, and she held him at arm's length as she studied him a moment.

"We gotta talk."

"Right now? Honeybadger it's..." He stole a glance at his clock. "It's five in the mornin'! Tomorrow we'll-"

"No!" Some part of her realized she sounded petulant and she scowled; Felix went a bit wide-eyed, thinking the expression was meant for him, so she pulled him close and stroked his hair to reassure him. "No. Y'listen now, you... you sweet little..."

She paused. Was that what she meant to say? No matter, it was probably a good start. He squirmed a little in her grip, and she patted him lightly.

"I love ya, y'cute little shit."

He stopped wriggling and sighed, arms going about her.

"I love you too, Tammy Jean." His tone was cautious but sincere, and she smiled; she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror, and idly noted that she looked like a dreamy dope.

Part of her wanted to be annoyed at that but she just couldn't muster it, so she patted him again instead.

"Good. M'glad. Cuz... cuz y'know, I decided."

"Oh, did you?"

"Uh huh." She nodded. "I decided Imma... Imma marry you. Y'got it?"

His grip tightened, but he didn't respond. She frowned a bit and shook him lightly.

"Hey. Y'got it?"

Felix was quiet a moment longer, and she scowled impatiently until he reached up to brush her hair from her face.

"Yes ma'am. I got it."

"Good." She relaxed, leaning her head back against the bed. "Good."

A moment later she was snoring, still holding Felix firmly.

* * *

Whe she woke she was in bed, covers pulled up to her chin, head pounding, and the smell of coffee drifting in from the kitchen. She lay still a moment before lurching to her feet with a groan, trailing blankets as she stumbled toward the scent.

"Mornin', honeybadger!" Felix called as she came in, so cheerful that Calhoun smiled and winced at once even as she noticed his nervous undertone. He appeared a moment later and led her to the couch, settling her down and placing a mug in her hands; she knew without looking or tasting that it would be one-quarter steamed milk and three sugars, just how she liked it, and she smiled.

"So, uh." Felix stepped back a bit, hands wringing nervously as he looked up at her. "Tammy Jean. About last night..."

She took a gulp of coffee and smiled again. Perfect.

"Yup." Her voice was a low rasp; she frowned and cleared her throat, looking up at him. "You still up for it?"

He relaxed, moving close again with a small smile.

"Yes ma'am. I do believe I am."

"Good."

He rested a hand on her knee, watching her with that dreamy-dopey expression she loved so much, and she couldn't help grinning back as she laid her hand over his.

"I uh... don't have a ring or anything. Didn't really think this through though."

"No?" He blinked innocently at her. "I couldn't tell."

She laughed hoarsely and set her mug aside, flipping his cap down over his eyes before reaching for her dogtags.

"So uh... here. I guess this'll do for now?"

Felix took the tags carefully, examining them a moment before winding them about his left wrist.

"Perfect." He chuckled, pulling his gloves on and tucking the tags under. "Well - Felix Calhoun has a nice ring to it."

"Yeah." She was grinning like a dope again as she leaned forward to kiss him lightly. "Good to hear you know how that part's going down." She stood, swaying only slightly, and picked up her coffee. "See you after work, Fix-it."

"Yes ma'am. Love you."

"Love you too." She touched his hair in passing as she headed out; it was time to go talk to Kohut.

He owed her - and, she supposed, maybe she owed him too.


	7. Reassurance

[[Today's one-shot is a cut scene from Missing Pieces.]]

"Don't you ever sleep?"

Drift drummed his fingers on the balcony railing and sighed as he heard Vanellope's voice. He had only been in Sugar Rush for a few hours, and already silence felt unnatural; it seemed strangely oppressive in such a lively game, and while he normally preferred his solitude he was glad for a break in the quiet.

"Sometimes," he said after a moment. "Not tonight."

"Yeah. Me neither." She shuffled up beside him, resting her hands on the railing. "I mean meeting Chip and going on the trains was great and all, but..."

He nodded, and they stood watching the lemon-drop sun glitter on dormant tracks.

"Hey, Drift?" Vanellope said after a moment. She stepped back slightly from the rail, playing with her fingers for several seconds before speaking again. "I... what was he like?" Drift looked over at her and she avoided his gaze, wringing her hands. "I mean uh... I... I heard that guy... Draft... I heard him say he 'wasn't scary', so I... y'know, I... I only remember scary, on the track and sometimes, just a little, I remember before he messed with my... with _our_ code, and Grandpa trying to get him to let go, and..."

He laid a light hand on her shoulder, stopping the flow of words.

"Easy there, Princessident. I get it - you want to understand." He waited for her nod before continuing, speaking slowly. "He was... okay, he was always kind of a brat. But I never felt like he meant it; he was our friend." Drift frowned, shrugging; the bitterness he was used to, the lingering traces of fondness were a surprise. "Guess that... doesn't make things better. Y'know, I've seen other Turbos. In other consoles, when I arcade-jump. Weird to realize, every one of 'em is just a little different. Our Turbo was the brat, but he was one of us. And then he was less that, and less. Angrier. Sulkier, I guess, even before the first crash. Kind of mean sometimes. I'd like to blame everything on that crash, but he was going funny before that and maybe it just sped up what was already going wrong."

"You miss him?" Vanellope asked softly. Drift hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I... I guess I do. I miss the guy I used to know, and I never really let myself realize he was turning any different until it was too late to stop it." He glanced at her, brow raising. "So why's this important right _now_?"

She gulped, looking away.

"I... I dunno. I heard Draft say that, and I remembered he just called himself a racer, the _greatest_ racer, and I... I love racing, I'm a great racer, I like to race and win and..."

"Oh." He sighed as she nodded miserably, plopping on the floor and tucking her legs up to her chest; after a moment he sat beside her.

"You're not like him, Vanellope."

"I could be."

"Sure you could." He shrugged. "I could. Ralph or the Sarge all could. Even Felix or the old man if somebody found the right buttons and pushed them long and hard enough. That's why Turbo scares the whole arcade, Princessident. He was a good guy, he was well-liked, we should have seen it coming and didn't because of all that, and it could be any one of us." She looked up at him with those large eyes, and he smiled a little. "Hey, how about this - you got stuff you like more than being the best, right?"

She brightened, nodding fervently.

"Yeah! I like to race more than I like to win, and I like Ralph and Felix and Sarge and King Gramps and Taffyta and the others better than racing."

"Good." He patted her head lightly and stood. "Just keep hold of that, okay?"

"Yeah." She hopped up, some of her bounce returned, and started off down the hall, pausing after a moment.

"Hey Drift?"

He'd already gone back to the railing, but half-turned to face her.

"What?"

She grinned, hands behind her back.

"I like you better than racing too."

He turned back to the railing, smiling a bit.

"Thanks, Princessident. Go get some rest."

"Okay. Thanks, Drift."

He nodded once, and she scurried back off into the depths of the castle.


	8. Recoding

"Hey Ralph? How come Q*Bert and his friends don't just go to another game?"

"Hm?" Ralph raised a hand to steady Vanellope as she glitched onto his shoulder, glancing at the figures huddled together on a bench. "Oh. Well, that's complicated... mainly they're probably afraid to."

"Oh - because they might die?" She considered, leaning against his head. "Or... um... they're worried about... going Turbo?"

Her voice quavered on the last two words; Ralph nudged her gently with a finger and she laid both hands atop it as she spoke.

"Well - kind of, I guess. It's..." He shrugged a little. "There's... well... y'know, you don't see a lot of homeless characters, right?"

"I guess not, but I... I figured maybe they went to another game. I kind of remember..." She trailed off, nose wrinkled. "I kind of... almost... remember him coming when we were first plugged in. I dunno, stuff before he... before my code got messed up... that's pretty fuzzy, but he was from an unplugged game, and came to ours." She shrugged. "Or maybe I imagined it. It's weird, stinkbrain."

"Yeah." His voice was low and soft. "I bet it is. Don't worry, Fartfeathers - it'll sort out."

"I guess. Anyway, that's not something that happens? Then... what happens to those characters? What woulda happened to the rest of the racers and everyone?"

"Well it's..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, here's the thing. You've never felt it, and the other kids almost never left the game - actually, we saw a few fans sometimes and I think I saw Taffyta's mom once, but you guys were kind of a mystery. Almost no one went in, almost no one came out. Kinda like this movie I hear gamers mention sometimes."

"So what?" Vanellope plopped on her back, draping over his shoulder. "What's it matter?"

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, our code aligns with one game - don't give me that look, I know you know that - and, here's the thing, we gotta go back to that game from time to time, even during times when the arcade's closed for repairs or because Litwak's on vacation or whatever. Refreshes our code or something, I don't know. But when a game's unplugged... you can't do that anymore."

"No kidding." Vanellope rolled her eyes and then frowned. "And if they can't... then..."

"Then the code can't refresh, and stuff starts going wrong. They get weird... sometimes they attack - more likely if it was part of their game, but any of 'em can. Usually after awhile of that they just kinda... disappear." He shrugged uncomfortably, frowning. "It's called separation fatigue... and, well, that's why a lot of us try to look out for unplugged characters, but they don't usually go into other games."

"Oh." Vanellope frowned, watching Q*Bert. "But then... how come _he_ didn't...?"

"I dunno, kid. He lasted a long time before Sugar Rush came in, and then fifteen years there... blending into games, messing with code, everything he did was unheard of."

"But then... that also means there's a way."

Ralph paused, following her gaze. Then he nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah... yeah, there _must_ be."

* * *

"So that's it," he said later as he and Felix headed home for the night. "I don't know what Turbo did, no one's figured that out. But it does tell us a character can be _added_ to a game."

"Y'know, you've got a point," Felix said slowly. "The way he did it doesn't fly that's for sure... but what if we _could_ do it without any harm?" He glanced toward Q*Bert, frowning. "Been... two weeks?"

"Something like that. Anyway, uh... I just figured it wouldn't hurt to have a look, but I'm not that great at, uh, fixing things, so..."

Felix nodded, giving him a little smile.

"It's good thinking. Come on; we've got three hours or so."

* * *

Neither Ralph nor Felix had ever been into their game's coderoom, but as the lead characters they both instinctively knew where it was: the basement level of Niceland Apartments. Felix led the way down, Ralph wrigging gingerly through after him and wincing as the stairs creaked under his weight.

"Don't worry - I'll fix it," Felix said absently. He knelt beside a trap door, which Ralph pulled up to reveal a control pad; Felix quickly punched in the code and the last lock slidt aside, revealing a glittering sea of wires and golden codeboxes.

"Got the rope, brother?"

"Right here." Ralph passed Felix the line - actually construction cable salvaged from the junkyard - and Felix tied it snugly about his waist before handing the other end back to Ralph and plunging in.

"Jiminy jaminy," he murmured. "This... this really is somethin', Ralph. Look here - we're both at the center, there's Gene an' Mary an' Nell an' even those ducks..."

"I dunno. It's pretty weird... pretty, I guess, but... yeah. You see anything?"

"Just a minute," Felix said absently. He navigated around the boxes with a sort of dogpaddling motion, careful to avoid tangling the line in wires. "Seems pretty much together, I don't..."

He trailed off as he spotted an unattached gleam of gold.

"Wait - hang on."

It took a few minutes of trying, but he managed to catch the gleam.

"Okay, pull me up."

"Gotcha."

Ralph hauled him up carefully, reaching to pull him back into the game proper; Felix shook his head, waving him off.

"Hang on, don't know that I should take this outta there. But look." He held his hands out to Ralph, who leaned in to examine the small gold block in his hands.

"Okay. What is it?"

"I think... it's leftover code," Felix said slowly. "Unconnected bits that don't do much but are still in for some reason. Unfinished bonus levels like Vanellope's volcano, that kinda thing."

Ralph brightened as he caught on.

"But if the game doesn't need it as-is, we might be able to use it for something else."

"Exactly." Felix nodding, beaming. "Keep an eye on the time, and I'll see how much I can gather."

* * *

It took a few days of Felix clumsily learning to maneuver his way around the code to chase down the free-floating blocks, but they finally deemed the collected junk code to be enough to form five character-sized boxes. While Felix gathered, Ralph had been examining the code itself; much of it was empty, though a few had leftover code. This they left alone, theorizing that it would make it easier to connect the new boxes to the rest of the code.

"Not sure it'll connect, mind," Felix said. "But even if it doesn't, it should count as game they're coded to."

"Right. Worked fine for Vanellope when _she_ wasn't connected."

Felix nodded, beginning to carefully fit the code together; after a moment Ralph reached in to help.

"While you were looking I found ways some of them slot together - see? Still mostly blank, but I think it works."

"Looks good." Felix smiled. "Guess you're used to fitting things together, with your bricks."

"You've uh... seen me do that, huh."

Felix nodded, squinting at his work.

"There's one - looks about like our boxes, right?"

"Yup." Ralph nodded, reaching to start building another box. "Before long, all it'll take is figuring out how to add their code in."

* * *

Q*Bert and his friends were understandably hesitant when Felix and Ralph finally approached them with their offer. Ralph stood by as Felix spoke to them, trying not to join Vanellope's giggling over Q*Bertese.

"He's _gotta_ teach me that," she whispered to Ralph, shaking with laughter. He shushed her gently, kneeling beside Felix.

"Look, guys - I don't think it'll hurt to try. And... well, no promises, but we might be able to put you in bonus levels, stuff like that. At the very least, you'll have a game again."

The five homeless characters stared at them a moment; the Q*Bert turned to the others, the five holding a hushed conference. Vanellope watched a moment before hopping down.

"C'mon guys, pleeeease? I mean, trying is better than just... sitting around, right?"

Q*Bert considered a moment longer, glancing back at his companions.

Then he finally bobbed an affirmative, and Vanellope bounced up with a cheer.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

* * *

Back in the coderoom, Felix secured his line and then picked Q*Bert up, hopping down and propelling them toward one of the new blank codeboxes. Once there Felix tapped it lightly to open the code, frowning slightly as he perused it.

"Let's see now. I gotta admit, not quite sure how to add, well, _you_ t'this."

They were still for a few moments, staring at the code.

Then Q*Bert shifted a bit, bumping his snout against the open code. He immediately started glitching, orange code rippling over him and causing Felix to glitch in the coderoom's gold.

Then the gold glitches began sweeping over Q*Bert as well, fresh lines flickering in the code.

It passed, and Felix held still a moment, adjusting, before cautiously closing the code.

The box was no longer blank; there was a small portrait on the surface now, _Q*BERT_ written in bold capitals.

"Well whaddaya know," Ralph said after a moment. "That was... a lot easier than we were making it."

Felix nodded as Ralph started pulling him in.

"Probably needs a natural character t'set it off... but this? This's gonna make things a whole lot easier." He set Q*Bert back in the basement, and Vanellope laughed as she grabbed Slick and tossed him toward Felix.

"Great! So what're we waiting for?" She giggled as Felix caught Slick and tumbled back into the code.

"This's gonna be a whole new arcade!"


	9. The Plan

[[A perspective flip of Missing Pieces Chapter Ten - the event from Vanellope's view - so it'll make a LOT more sence if you read MP. X3 The first section is a scene I decided not to include in the actual chapter; it flowed better just letting King Candy figure it out. X3]]

"Okay, guys. They're gonna be here any minute, so listen up."

Vanellope grinned as she surveyed her fellow racers. Fourteen default, nine unlocked: all of the current racers had come to compete in King Candy's first official race, the first he'd drive in as himself.

"We finally have a full board, and it's great that you're all here! All hands on deck, all wheels on the track, that's exactly what we need!" She paused, clasping her hands and lowering her voice a little. "And I really appreciate it, guys. I bet King Gramps will too."

"Is that all, Vanellope?" Taffyta asked after a moment. "I mean... it's a nice little speech and all, but you kind of said this was important."

Vanellope stuck her tongue out at the other girl and giggled.

"Yeah yeah, I'm getting to that. So here it is - I gotta beat him today. I don't necessarily have to beat _you_ guys, but I definitely have to come in ahead of _him_. I do that, and he's a full-fledged racer."

The other children exchanged glances; one by one, they started grinning back at her.

"You mean you want us to play hardball."

"Ex-_act_-ly, Swizzle." Vanellope nodded once, ponytail whipping. "I mean, now that you guys know him, and we know he's a racer, you want to take him on - right?" She waited for their agreement. "I know not everybody was too thrilled before we got used to him. I know. But now, now we know, and... well, I guess we could keep trying if I bomb today! And I will!" A pause. "I mean, I'll keep trying. Not bomb. No way. But... y'know, we could work together and make this for keeps _today_."

"Does he need to finish?" Torvald asked. Vanellope considered this and then shrugged.

"Dunno. I mean, I _guess_, since it still registers a place. I mean, I'd rather drive a hard race than have him wipe out in turn one, but... I guess it counts. Try _not_ to DQ him though okay? And yeah I'm talking to some of you more than others."

"And where does this leave you?" Taffyta asked. Vanellope grinned ferociously, stepping forward.

"Ahead of you like always, Taff! But seriously, go for me all you want - I just wanna stay ahead of him and get this unlocked. So - can I count on you guys if he's any trouble?"

Taffyta crossed her arms, lips pursing. Then she smiled back.

"Ha. Me in first, you in second if you're lucky, and King Candy wherever he falls." She held out her hand, and Vanellope shook it firmly. "So what makes you think he'll be trouble?"

Vanellope winked, head tilting.

"I was trouble in _my_ first, right? Von Schweetz Family Racing, Taff!"

Taffyta rolled her eyes, looking away as Rancis and Candlehead giggled sheepishly.

"All right, all right. Here they come now - let's get ready to race."

"You bet!" Vanellope grinned and dashed off, waving to the other racers.

"Thanks guys!"

* * *

Racing with a full board was _cool_.

As they left the grid, the karts started swerving around each other it was almost dizzying to watch; Vanellope jetted right past King Candy and toward the first jump, nearly colliding with three different racers on the way out.

Wrecking out so early would be a _huge_ embarrassment after all that fuss; as she cleared the jump she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and grinned.

Ninth place. A roster position, but she could do better; Taffyta was still somewhere ahead, for one. For now, Jubileena was in her sights. An easy pass as they headed up Layer Cake Hill - curves were a particular strong point of Vanellope's and she'd trained on dirt before her own first race - and she heard a cherry bomb go off and Jubileena cry out just seconds before King Candy sped by to pass _her_.

"H-hey!"

Back in ninth. She heard him laugh, and she laughed too, leaning forward in her seat as she chased him.

He _was_ good, to her delight; not only had he passed _her_ she could see him vying for a way around Taffyta's usual group (five today, Chip and Coco in the usual formation with Rancis and Candlehead) after the second jump, and when they widened out slightly he went straight for an impossible-looking squeeze between Chip and the outside railing. Chip's defense pushed him toward Rancis, who overcorrected and spun out, and King Candy was ahead.

"Not bad, Gramps."

She shifted and accelerated, using a Sugar Rush powerup to get through; she could hear Candlehead shouting happily ("gogoGO Nelly!") and laughed aloud.

Third place - no, fourth? She jumped as Nicola came in from the side, hitting King Candy hard, and almost laughed at the soda racer's cheery apology.

Almost, until she realized he was glitching.

Nicola was still pressing him and Vanellope sped toward them, visions of too-bright yellow eyes and her Candy Kart flipped on its side in her head as she approached. Calhoun was supposed to be monitoring the race, holding onto the glitch bracelets in case of trouble, but she wasn't here, she couldn't follow inside the mines, and Vanellope's chest was hurting because she was holding her breath as she silently pleaded with King Candy and Draft...

The glitches stopped, bright blue pixels still in control as they faded. He was all right.

He was all right, and preoccupied with Nicola and Snowanna. Vanellope let out the held breath in an explosive whoop as she swerved around them.

First place, and the finish line rapidly approaching.

Then she was across - just ahead of Snowanna and, more importantly, ahead of King Candy. She barely heard as Taffyta came in and then Candlehead and Nicola almost together and Chip and Coco almost together behind them; she was already leaping from her kart to hurry back toward him, pausing at the glow surrounding him as he left his own kart.

Was that how it had looked for her?

"Wow," she muttered, starting forward again.

"_CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE UNLOCKED KING CANDY!_"

The announcer's voice drowned out hers, and she grinned again before glitching forward to meet him.

It was going to be okay.

She just _knew_ it.

[[So there you have it! The racers werent being mean, they were trying to get him racing permanently! 8D]]


	10. The Wanderer

Drift huddled in Turbo Time's empty outlet, knees pulled to his chest as he watched passersby. He was nearly invisible in the shadows, and few glanced toward him anyway; most kept their gaze away from the outlet in almost superstitious fashion, and a few outright rushed by.

Less than a week since Turbo's stunt in Roadblasters and people were already turning it into some kind of creepy legend, and by the occasional looks he got when he ventured out he was a part of it.

Couldn't blame them, he supposed. Last Turbo Time racer standing was probably a convenient target. He dropped his forehead onto his knees with a sigh, tucking up a bit tighter.

"Hey - Drift?"

The voice was gentle, hesitant; Drift debated ignoring him. After a moment the speaker came to sit beside him, and there was a long moment of silence.

"Go away, Felix," he said at last, not bothering to look up. His voice was thicker and wearier than he would have liked, and he swallowed hard as Felix laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Y'don't mean that."

"Do so." He didn't, and Felix seemed to sense this; he removed the hand but remained where he was. They sat a moment longer before the handyman, never comfortable with stillness, began to fidget.

"Drift, I... listen. Y'can't stay here forever..."

"Yes I can."

"...this old outlet's no place for anybody," Felix continued as if uninterrupted, trying for a sterness he didn't seem to really feel. "And out here all alone, well it's-"

"Better than out there. Don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not what you'd call Citizen Number One." Another moment of quiet. "I really _am_ alone, huh."

"That's not everyone, Drift. And I..." Felix sighed, looking away. "I... I'm sorry about your brother. I truly am, Drift. But... y'know, we've got room in my game..."

"No." Drift's voice was as sharp as he could force himself to make it; Felix flinched, and he felt a twinge of guilt buried beneath the sorrow. "Look... I..."

"I understand." Felix's voice was soft, sad. Drift looked away again, shaking his head.

"You don't."

"No," Felix said after a moment. "I guess I probably don't, not altogether. But... the offer stands."

"Thanks." Drift buried his face in his arms, voice muffled when he spoke again. "I miss Draft." It was at the forefront of everything, really, the shock of not having his brother at his side or half-hiding behind him; some part of him missed Turbo too - the old Turbo, the one that didn't rage and crash new games beyond repair and get them unplugged - but there was bitterness lodged in that, and he didn't feel ready to admit it.

"I know," Felix said simply; Drift suspected he'd understand the unspoken part too, but remained silent as the handyman stood. "Well. Y'know where to find me. Good night, Drift."

He nodded just a bit in response, face still hidden as Felix left.

* * *

A week later, he found himself starting into an outlet set perpendicular to the rest - the outlet that led out of the arcade altogether, where no character had ventured. This close, he could feel a hum of electricity greater than anything an individual game held.

He stepped closer, stopping only as a gloved hand caught his wrist.

"Drift!" Felix's voice was low and horrified, eyes wide as he stared at the racer. "What in the name of _everythin'_ are you doin'?"

"I don't know," Drift said slowly. He looked at the outlet again, gently tugging free of Felix. "You think... there's anything out there?"

Felix shifted uncomfortably.

"No one's ever come outta there."

"But has anyone ever gone in?"

"Drift, look, I... I know you've been havin' a hard time an' all." Felix had his hat in his hands now, crumpling it nervously. "But I don't know that this is such a good idea."

"Maybe, maybe not." Drift shrugged and stepped fully into the outlet and the space beyond. Felix grabbed him again, and he ended up inadvertantly pulling the handyman in with him.

He wasn't certain what he had been expecting; Felix apparently expected electric death by the way he yelped, but instead there was only a faint tingle.

Ahead, endless paths stretched out, lit here and there by faint points of light. Drift and Felix glanced at each other a long moment and then turned back in unison.

The entrance back to GCS was the brightest of all, a warm and inviting beacon. They both instinctively stepped toward it, Drift stopping himself after a moment; a step later Felix realized and turned back.

"Drift?"

"I... I'm coming."

He stepped back through with Felix. The Surge Protector was there, staring at both of them in open shock, and for the first time in weeks Drift felt a twinge of amusement.

"Evening, officer."

Surge Protector nodded in response, glancing at Felix.

"We're both all right," the handyman said soothingly, settling his cap back on his head. "No need t'worry."

"Good," the officer replied slowly. "There are powerful surges out there; it's not safe."

"But it is interesting," Drift said. Felix looked at him, sizing him up.

"You're not thinkin' of...?"

"Maybe." He took a breath. "I.. l-look, I don't really have anything here." Felix looked hurt, and he grimaced. "Don't take it like that, okay? I just... maybe... maybe a change of scenery..."

Felix looked at the Surge Protector, who shrugged.

"As long as he's careful... it shouldn't do too much harm. And it won't harm any games here either."

"All right," Felix said softly. "Just... wait here, a bit, okay?"

Drift nodded, and Felix hurried off.

It was some time before the handyman returned; when he did, he was holding a pie.

"Boysenberry," he said simply as he handed it over. Drift nodded once.

"Right. Thanks. And listen - you saw what a beacon this place is..."

Felix nodded, understanding, and Drift stepped back into the outlet.

* * *

He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he left Litwak's. Weeks, he thought.

The slow-building buzz in his head, the occasional shivering aches through his limbs, the once-in-awhile blackouts - they all made it hard to concentrate. At first he'd thought it was a result of being out in the space beyond arcades, but a trip into other Game Central Stations had done nothing.

Something was wrong.

Something else Turbo had done?

The latest arcade he found himself in had a Turbo Time; several had, but he'd never gone in, never wanted to see another version of his brother or Turbo or their old track.

A Draft that wasn't his or a blameless Turbo. He wasn't sure which ghost was worse.

This time, though, he felt drawn to the outlet; maybe a quick peek wouldn't hurt.

As soon as he stepped through red code washed over him, and he gasped in alarm. Glitches?

No, he realized after a moment. The red pixels were gone, but he could feel code shifting, realigning.

Then it was gone, and with it the aches and the buzzing. He held his hands out, flexing his fingers.

Refreshed.

"Steady?"

He jumped at a soft voice, Draft's-but-not-Draft's, and turned. There was a mirror image of himself there, wide soft eyes watching him in growing alarm.

One of _this_ Turbo Time's NPCs, and as aware that he wasn't 'Steady' as Drift was aware the stranger wasn't Draft.

He stared at him a long moment, though, a different sort of ache deep in his chest.

"Hey!"

The other twin was approaching at a sprint, ready to defend his brother from the unfamiliar doppelganger. Drift swallowed hard, backing toward the exit.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Sorry."

As he fled, he wasn't sure if he was talking to the other twins or to Draft.

* * *

Litwak's was still a clear, beautiful beacon. As he stepped into the station, the Surge Protector appeared.

"So you made it."

He looked Drift over a moment before scribbling onto his clipboard.

"Welcome back."

Drift only nodded; a moment later he was nearly bowled over as Felix embraced him.

"You're okay! Y'made it!"

"Get off, Felix." He shoved the handyman away, face creasing in annoyance; Felix backed off with a smile, though he sobered as he caught the racer's weary expression.

"Drift...?"

"Saw another Turbo Time. Turns out I can get into other arcades." He gulped hard; Felix had gone wide-eyed, hands over his mouth. "Look it... it's not a big deal. But uh... listen. There's... something else that happened that going into Turbo Time cured. Figured you uh... you should know about it if you're gonna be inviting characters into games."

* * *

He kept wandering.

There were other Turbo Times, other Turbos, other twins; after that first time he was careful to keep out of sight, though he still ducked into other copies of his game to cure what characters had begun to call 'separation fatigue'.

Some aches didn't quite heal, and Turbo Time only made _those_ worse.

When that happened, he usually made his way back to Litwak's - some part of his mind still insisted on thinking of it as 'home' - and Felix and the Surge Protector were always there, one with pie and good cheer and the other with what he almost thought was a sense of relief that he'd returned safely once again.

Other than that, they gave him his privacy; they kept his secret, and with the whispered fear of 'going Turbo' still circulating he was grateful for it.

Until it finally changed.

Finally, when Felix greeted him with the usual pie he wasn't alone. Wreck-it Ralph Drift instantly recognized - it was hard not to - but the tall, ferocious blonde and the wide-eyed little girl were new.

With the new pair came an unsettling revelation.

_Turbo's alive._

He listened to their story with a growing horror, and he told them everything he could. Felix's offer to bring him into Niceland he rebuffed as always, but the request for help couldn't go unanswered.

Turbo couldn't get away with this again. _Wouldn't_.

For the first time in years, Drift felt a sense of purpose; for the time being at least, his wandering was over.


	11. The Birthday

"Hi Mister Ralph!"

Ralph jumped at the cheerful, piping voice beside him, half-turning to see a green-haired, green-eyed little girl with a lit candle embedded in her hat perched on the wall beside him.

"Uh, hey... Candlehead, right?"

She nodded, beaming.

"Yeah! How'd you remember?"

He bit back a retort as he realized she was completely earnest, instead shrugging as he turned back to the jumbotron.

"Lucky guess. Shouldn't you be out racing?"

"Oh, I decided to sit out today. I mean, I've been on the roster almost a month straight - Nelly even gave me a roster spot the day the bugs tried to eat us!"

The statement was so absurdly chipper that Ralph could only stare. He remembered to nod after a moment, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, I think I heard. So, uh... giving the others a fair shot?"

"Yep!" She leaned toward him, speaking in a stage whisper she likely thought was secretive. "Swizzle hasn't been on the roster in _forever_."

"Is that so." He didn't have the heart to tell her he hadn't quite learned who Swizzle was; Candlehead was already distracted anyway, peering at his hand and then reaching out to pat the knuckles.

"Can you really bust a jawbreaker?"

"Uh... yeah. I did it the first night I came here, right after..." He frowned, remembering how he'd chased the kids out of the junkyard; come to think of it this one had really only watched until her friends started leaving, the only sign of distress a nervous smile. "You're uh... not scared?" Most of them had been decidedly hesitant in the week or so since; Candlehead, though, only giggled.

"Nuh uh! You're Nelly's friend, after all!" She hopped down from the wall, swaying rhythmically on her feet. "Hey - I can't bust a jawbreaker, but watch what I _can_ do!" She clenched her fists, cheeks puffing; a few seconds later her flame flared brighter and bigger until it was nearly as large as Candlehead herself. After a moment she stopped, gasping and teetering slightly before looking expectantly up at him.

"Huh. Yeah, that's... I admit it, that's pretty cool." Ralph grinned at her happy squeak; the kid was sweet. A little _too_ sweet, maybe - he had a feeling the sarcasm and playful insults that punctuated at least half of his conversations with Vanellope wouldn't fly here - but he'd dealt with worse.

"Looks like the race is almost over," he said as he looked at the jumbotron again. Candlehead nodded and started moving toward the finish line; after a few steps she stopped, glancing back at him.

"Mister Ralph, when is your birthday?"

"My what?" He blinked, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, not sure - I don't think I was actually programmed with one."

"Oh." She mulled that over a moment. "Tomorrow then!"

"Wha-_tomorrow_? Look, I... there's already stuff going on, and..." He took in her crestfallen expression and sighed. "How about next week?"

She brightened up again, nodding.

"Okay! Your birthday is in one week!"

Candlehead hurried off as the race ended (the leaderboard showed Swizzle in fourth place, Ralph noticed); moments later an exuberant Vanellope had appeared on his shoulder, and before long he had entirely forgotten Candlehead's proclaimation.

* * *

"SURPRISE!"

Ralph stumbled back in shock at the shout; Vanellope, on his shoulder as she often was, was giggling in his ears and the throne room was filled with pastries and streamers and people. Felix and Calhoun were there, of course, and Kohut and Markowski and one or two other Marines, and Mary (who had skipped out on their usual baking lesson for two days, evidently to help with the large cake at the center), and most of Bad Anon, and the Sugar Rush racers (who he could now identify for the most part and who were growing more comfortable with him).

Candlehead, of course, was right in the middle of the gathering.

"Y'know, Ralph," Vanellope said, "I am _hurt_ you didn't tell me it was your birthday. I might _die_ from it."

"But it..." He looked at the happily bouncing Candehead and smiled. "I... guess maybe it is. It was a big secret."

"Yeah, even from _you_."

"And we're gonna have _all_ the birthdays!" Candlehead sang. "I decided! Mister Felix's birthday is May twenty-seventh, and Miss Mary's is is July twenty-third, and..." She paused, head tilting. "Miss Sergeant Calhoun, do _you_ know your birthday?"

"February thirtieth," Calhoun replied straightfaced.

"Okay, got it!"

"Y'know," Vanellope muttered in Ralph's ear as they were serving the cake, "Candlehead's just gonna always think it's because of leap year and have a party on March first."

"Sounds about right," Ralph said. "But hey - we don't have to tell _Calhoun_ that."

Vanellope giggled wickedly in agreement, and Ralph settled in to enjoy his party.


	12. Party Planning

"Vanellope! Hey, Nelly!"

Candlehead grabbed Vanellope's hand between both of hers as she caught her, tugging gently until the president turned to her with a grin.

"Hey Candlehead! What's up?"

"Did you know?" Candlehead released her, dancing in place. "Mister Ralph's birthday is in six days!"

Vanellope blinked, shaking her head.

"Uh... no, I didn't know that."

"Well, that's because I just decided that yesterday." She giggled, bouncing lightly as Vanellope laughed too. "But anyway. That means a party, right? I thought you'd be best to help, so..."

"Party, huh." Vanellope rocked slightly on her feet, chin in hand. "With cake? Or, or, pies?"

"Definitely!"

"And maybe fireworks?"

"Um..." Candlehead considered, flame briefly brightening. "Well... we could probably do that, I guess... why?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just... something he mentioned one time. Anyway, I think it's a _great_ idea. I bet he'd really like it. So - six days, huh?"

"Uh huh!" Candlehead was bouncing again, seizing Vanellope's hands as she did. "So what do you think? You know what he likes with cakes and stuff, and we could use the throne room, and all the racers can come!"

"Right, right!" Vanellope nodded. "Well, you're the birthday expert! I'll let the castle guys know, you just tell me what to do!"

* * *

The other racers seemed nervous about Ralph sometimes, but it wasn't hard to get them to agree to a party for Vanellope's friend, and they all agreed to help set the table with their respective specialties.

Candlehead wasn't finished yet, though. After all, there were other people in the arcade who were Ralph's friends.

Her first stop was to Ralph's own game. She left Sugar Rush as soon as she was sure Ralph was occupied with Vanellope, hurrying to Fix-it Felix Jr; Felix himself was easily located in the apartment building's lobby, talking with Sergeant Calhoun and a lady in purple.

"Hi Mister Felix! Hi Miss Sergeant Calhoun, hi Miss..." She trailed off, tilting her head at the woman, who smiled and offered a hand.

"Mary, dear."

"Hi Miss Mary!" Candlehead shook her hand enthusiastically. "I like your tram!"

"Why thank you." Felix wasn't much taller than Candlehead, but he still hunkered down a little to talk to her. "What can we do for you, sweetheart?"

"Weeeeell." Candlehead grinned. "I decided. Mister Ralph's birthday is in five days, and we're gonna have a party!"

"You decided, huh?" Calhoun raised a brow; Candlehead briefly tried to mimic it, touching her forehead to check if she had it right, then gave up and nodded.

"Uh huh! I mean, uh, yes ma'am!" She giggled, hands over her mouth, as Calhoun pursed her lips. "Anyway. I got all the racers to come. They're all gonna make snacks! But you have cake and pie here too, right?"

"We sure do!" Felix glanced at Mary. "What do you think? You an' Ralph have been bakin', right?"

"That's right! I think I can manage something he'll like..." She looked at Candlehead. "That is, if you don't mind someone from another game making the centerpiece?"

"No it's great! And I'll help too - we can make it right at the castle!" Candlehead bounced happily, already heading for the exit. "You'll come too, right Miss Sergeant Calhoun?"

"Sure, why not," Calhoun said after a moment. "Maybe I'll talk to a couple of the guys too. See you there."

* * *

Candlehead's last task was recruiting the Bad-Anon members to her cause. She had learned from Vanellope that they met at Pac-Man; with that in mind she only needed to wait until a meeting let out. Once it did she watched the members filing out, hiding behind the protruding part of the outlet as Ralph stopped to talk to a mohawked man nearly as big as he was.

Another friend of Ralph's, and he looked generally friendly. The perfect person to talk to!

Once Ralph and his friend went their separate ways, Candlehead came out of hiding to walk beside the stranger, rushing to match his pace.

"Excuse me. Excuse me! Mister... um... Mister Underpants?"

He stopped at that, leaving Candlehead to run a few more steps before she stopped and turned to face him. He was kneeling by then, grinning at her.

"Yes? How can I help you, Miss Candle Girl?"

"My name's Candlehead!" She bobbed up on her toes, grinning back. "You're a friend of Mister Ralph. Right? And a Bad-Anon guy?"

"I am." He nodded. "Why? You are looking to join?"

"Oh, no." She shook her head. "Sugar Rush doesn't have bad guys. Unless it was the fake king? But I think he used to be a good guy. So he was a bad good guy, not a good bad guy like Mister Ralph."

"This is so." He nodded again, and Candlehead bounced closer.

"So if you're Mister Ralph's friend, you must be a good bad guy too! Which means you have to come to his birthday party!" She clasped her hands as she concluded her iron-tight argument, gazing expectantly up at him; after a moment he nodded.

"This makes sense, yes. And perhaps I should speak to the others?"

"Ooooh, yes please!" Candlehead clapped happily. "All of Mister Ralph's good bad guy friends can come!"

"All right." He stood, nodding. "I will talk to them. Anything else I can help with?"

"Weeeeell, you're really big! I bet you're good at hanging stuff up, right Mister Underpants?"

He chuckled at that, nodding.

"It is Zangief. But I will be happy to help."

"Okay!" She grabbed his hand, and he slouched slightly to make it easier for her. "I'll show you where - come on!"

* * *

Two days later, it was all ready. Mary and the Sugar Rush kids had filled tables with all the treats in their repertoire, including a towering cake that Mary was putting the last dollops of icing on, and the room had been decorated with help from Zangief and a few other bad guys (for some reason, quite a few of them were very large). Between finding people to invite Candlehead had been running tirelessly about to get everything organized and in order; now, while Vanellope went to get Ralph, she gave it one last lookover and nodded happily.

Perfect.

Finally, the door was opening; Candlehead gave a little hopskip of anticipation as she moved to the middle of the group.

"SURPRISE!"


	13. Introduction

Wanting to be liked was not a familiar feeling for Sergeant Calhoun. She didn't _need_ to be liked; she needed obedience from her men, she needed to do her job and have them to theirs, she needed to keep the arcade safe from her stupidly dangerous game with its stupid, stupid Cybugs.

Which meant wanting to be liked by the Nicelanders was a deep, irritating thorn, especially since she wasn't certain she even liked _them_ after hearing the story behind Wreck-it's game jump and observing them on few occasions she went to meet Fix-it instead of waiting for him to come to her.

She wanted to like them for _his_ sake, though, and that was almost more annoying than wanting _them_ to like _her_.

"You're awful quiet, Tammy Jean."

She glanced down at Felix as they walked into his game's outlet, the handyman absently reaching up to catch her hand; after a moment she shrugged, giving his hand a little squeeze.

"Not much for crowds is all."

He raised his brows at that; by now he'd seen her insinuate herself into stands at Sugar Rush when she decided the VIP box wasn't close enough to a particularly tight race, or weave comfortably through the after-work rush at Tapper's with no more discomfort than a warning glare at a Street Fighter who pressed too close. He gave her the lie, though, nodding gently as he released her to hop onto the tram and then offer her a hand up.

"Well - we don't have to stay long, ma'am."

She accepted the help, folding herself into the Nicelander-sized car; for a moment she tried to picture Wreck-it doing the same and bit back a grin at the mental image.

"No sense in you bowing out of a party on my account, Fix-it." She shifted, trying to get comfortable. "Next time we take my cruiser, though."

"Yes ma'am." He grinned at her from his perch on the side of the car, and she couldn't help grinning back as the tram started.

* * *

It was impossible not to notice the open shock on the Nicelanders' faces when they arrived on the rooftop hand-in-hand, and she couldn't decide whether she was amused or annoyed. Wreck-it and Vanellope both looked between her and the Nicelanders a moment before grinning openly (she shot them a withering look; he had the sense to look contrite but was still grinning, and she just started giggling), while Felix seemed determined to pretend there was nothing unusual at all.

"I see you've all met Vanellope," he said with a little smile. "Well, I'd like you t'meet Sergeant Calhoun - she's th'lead for Hero's Duty, new game across from Tapper's."

There was a brief silence broken only by Vanellope's giggles. Wreck-it was still grinning, the Nicelanders were still staring, and Fix-it was, naturally, still doggedly beaming at them all as if he was always bringing in statuesque lady soldiers and there was no reason at all to be surprised.

The first to recover was a woman who'd been talking to Ralph; she smiled, stepping forward and offering a hand.

"Why it's just lovely to meet you, Sergeant! Felix has talked about you nonstop when he's not scooting off right after all-clear! My name is Mary, by the way."

Calhoun nodded as she released Felix so she could shake Mary's hand, trying not to be too unnerved by the Nicelander's strangely jerky movement.

"Uh... yeah. Nice to meet you." She cleared her throat as she let go of Mary. "And uh... nice... little game you've got here. I mean I've popped in a couple of times but never really come in..."

"Well, don't be shy, dear! You're very welcome here, isn't that right?" Mary glanced pointedly back at the still-silent Nicelanders; after a moment a mustached man nodded, coming forward as well.

"A... pleasure of course. I'm Gene, and, ah... this is Niceland Apartments."

"Gene, huh." She straightened. "Yeah, I've heard a lot about both of you."

"Yeah, me too!" Vanellope piped from Ralph's shoulder. Gene colored a bit while Mary looked slightly embarrassed; after a moment Gene cleared his throat, moving back toward the others.

"So, ah..."

"So this is a party, right?" Calhoun asked. Gene looked put out at the interruption but nodded, and Calhoun stepped forward.

"All right then."

Most of the Nicelanders still seemed a bit off-balance, and Wreck-it and Vanellope both still looked too amused for their own good.

Actually, between them and Felix she caught herself grinning back.

Maybe she was going to enjoy this party after all - and maybe enough people liked her already.

It was an unexpected pleasure, and she smiled again as she headed over to talk to Ralph.


	14. Home

"You sure you wanna come back here, kid?"

"Sure I'm sure. It's... it _was_ home."

Vanellope accelerated toward the mountainside, and just as he had the night before Ralph flung up his arms to shield himself.

Just as they had the night before, they phased harmlessly through; instead of crashing into a stalagmite Vanellope swung them neatly in beside one of the formations and leaped from the kart, looking around.

"Huh," she said after a moment. "Looks... like I found it." She hurried to the Mentos chamber, looking at her now-empty nook; after a moment Ralph joined her, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry, kid." He sighed. "I mean... I guess it wasn't programmed, and it worked pretty good as a beacon, but-"

"N-no, it's fine." Vanellope flapped a hand at him, giving a wavery smile. "I just... I guess I just wanted to, y'know, check it out again. But uh... could you do one thing for me?"

"Sure, what?"

"The track you made for me - can you do it again?"

* * *

"She actually seemed pretty upset," Ralph told Felix as they headed home hours later. "I mean... y'know... it wasn't _great_, but it was _hers_. She did a lot of that herself - honestly I dont even know how she dragged the spongecake in there." He shrugged. "Had a heck of a lot more initiative about that place than I did about the dump, that's for sure."

"She _is_ somethin'." Felix nodded, smiling slightly. "So - y'want help fixin' it back up?"

"Yeah. Well, kinda. I mean... I know you could probably gather some stuff and, poof, little clubhouse with a bunkbed and whatnot, but... I kinda wanna fix it just like she had it before."

"Fair enough, fair enough." Another nod; Felix was grinning now. "Well, I like it an' I'll be glad t'help. Just need t'know what-all was there so we have a plan."

"Okay. I think I can remember most of it - might not get details, but we can work that out once she sees it."

* * *

The first order of business was gathering materials.

Most of it was simple enough; Vanellope's little home had been comprised largely of common Sugar Rush debris, easily found in the junkyard, and it was only a matter of waiting for her to fall asleep in her room at the castle. This gave them a scant few hours to search, and with the need to sleep at least every few days themselves some of the more difficult materials took time to gather.

The spongecake bed was the most difficult. After a bit of talking to residents Ralph was able to determine that Vanellope had most likely found it as a reject outside the kart bakery - perhaps it'd been a not-quite-suitable chassis, or a mechanic's lift, but either way it had been a lucky find. A replacement had to be custom-baked; a disappointment, as Ralph had wanted to at least try to do everything just as Vanellope had, but hardly the end of the world.

Lugging the thing in once it was finished gave him new appreciation for how determined she must have been. _He_ could gently roll it in half and carry it under one arm, but he could well imagine her struggling her way in, likely glitching in frustration once in awhile.

It was a miracle she hadn't been caught.

On the third day Calhoun joined them; Ralph was surprised but Felix seemed to think it was perfectly natural that she'd help, and her gruff earnestness was plainly genuine. She also turned out to have a knack for rigging similar to Vanellope herself - while Felix could make neat, even structures and Ralph was as likely to knock things over as build them up, Calhoun looked at things with a clever but not-quite technical eye, and they'd have never gotten the little shelter over the bed _just_ so without her.

Between them, it took just under a week.

"So," Calhoun said as she surveyed the little den, "you gonna go get her?"

"No," Ralph said slowly. "Not yet. Still one more thing I gotta do."

* * *

"What are we doing back here?" Vanellope asked as they walked back into the volcano. She was perched on Ralph's shoulder, one hand tangled gently in his hair as she blinked in the gloom.

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe you can figure out some new tricks on that test track."

She wrinkled her nose.

"I didn't bring my _kart_, Ralph."

"Oh. Right. Well, uh..."

He didn't have to think of another excuse; Vanellope had heard Felix and Calhoun talking in the main chamber and, always curious, glitched away to see what _they_ were doing there.

By the time Ralph caught up she was cautiously approaching the spongecake bed, running a hand over it.

"You... you guys did all this?"

"Sure did," Calhoun said. She was smiling just a bit. "Wreck-it's idea."

"Wow."

"I know it's not perfect," Ralph said as he approached. "I mean... I guess I didn't pay all that much attention, but..."

"No, no - it _is_ perfect." She hopped up onto the bed, turning to face them with a broad grin. "I mean it's... it's almost like I left it!"

"We can fix it up a bit more however y'like," Felix said, grinning. "But I think Ralph's got one more thing for you."

Ralph cleared his throat, looking away sheepishly as Vanellope gazed expectantly up at him and shrugging as he pulled a small object from the pocket of his overalls.

"Yeah, well. I mean, there was one other thing I noticed you made for yourself, I was thinking maybe you'd want another one... I mean maybe it'd be better if _you_ made another one. Clumsy hands and all, heh..."

He trailed off as she took the slightly lopsided candy-wrapper doll from him, holding it at arm's-length to examine it closely.

Then she hugged it close, beaming almost shyly up at him.

"She's perfect. I-I mean... she's way better than the old one, Stinkbrain. _Way_ better."

"Yeah?" He grinned, kneeling, and Vanellope bounced up to hug him, doll and all.

"Yeah. Thanks, Ralph." She clambered up onto his shoulder proper, grinning at the other two. "And you guys too. Thanks. A _lot_. I mean the castle's still pretty weird and all, so..."

"We understand," Felix said gently. "So this'll be here when you need it."

She nodded, still holding the new doll, and they settled in for a quiet evening.


	15. The Patrol Aide

"Fix-it, what the holy hex-code are you doing in here?"

Felix smiled up at the lovely lady before him, hat in hands as he addressed her.

"Well ma'am, after th'whole... _incident_ at Sugar Rush last night, an' hearin' you mention your post-close patrols, I though I might see if I could lend a hand." He glanced toward the men at her back as he spoke; the one he'd conversed with the night before, Kohut, looked intrigued, though the others showed various levels of skepticism and amusement.

Well, he wasn't here to impress anyone.

Except maybe her. A little.

"All right," she said at last. "Kohut, run the perimeter. I'm taking Fix-it here to the range to see if there's any hope for him."

Kohut saluted with a single curt nod, and Felix bounced to Calhoun's side with a broad, eager grin. She glanced down at him with just the barest ghost of a smile before turning on her heel to march off.

"Twenty says he's gone in half an hour," he heard one of the Marines mutter behind them.

"You know what?" Kohut said. "I'll take you up on that - I say he'll stay."

* * *

Calhoun stared at the neat cluster of bulletholes in the target before turning to Felix, who was fumbling with the handgun's clip.

"That's... not bad, Fix-it. Not bad at all." She cleared her throat, shrugging slightly. "I mean, it's not spot-on, but keeping shots around where you first hit instead of trying to reaim - that's good thinking."

"Thank you ma'am." He smiled, still fiddling with the clip; after a moment she took the weapon from him.

"Uh, it goes like this."

Felix nodded, leaning forward attentively.

"All right, I got it." He took the weapon from her, unloading and loading the clip a few times to be sure, and Calhoun nodded as she turned to refresh the target.

"Good, so let's work on that aim."

He nodded, taking aim again. She watched him unload on the target and nodded.

"Well, you can improve the aim, but nothing's hopeless yet. You got target shooting in your backstory or something? Would go with the accent."

He changed clips himself this time, pausing a moment to think before shaking his head.

"No ma'am, don't believe so. When my game was made backstory wasn't a real big thing - mine's just I got the hammer from my father." He took careful aim, squinting slightly. "Seen a good few shooters in my time, though."

"Huh." She nodded, watching him. "Well - keep practicing. I'll pull up a map of our usual routes, and once you can hit the target square you can give that a try."

* * *

By the third day Felix showed up Calhoun deemed him ready to accompany her on a full patrol. Just as he had in Sugar Rush he bounded up onto her cruiser, his balance now steady and sure, and she took off along her usual perimeter route.

"There's usually not much," she admitted as they swept low over the pitted landscape. "We hit a beacon at closing just in case, and attract mode will usually flash one every once in awhile depending what sequence cues up. We've also got a few tower guys that can hit it... but I like to check over after close to make sure no stray eggs got through the last game."

"Fair enough." Felix nodded, giving her a quick grin before turning his attention back to the terrain. "Earlier you nab 'em the better, right?"

"Right. Few nights ago you saw what happens if you let it go long enough..."

"Not to worry, Sergeant. Won't happen again on our watch." He took careful aim at a stray egg, gently squeezing the trigger, and hopped a bit as his target exploded. "Hey! I got it!"

She chuckled, tipping his hat gently over his eyes.

"Nice shootin', pintsize."

He grinned up at her as he pushed the hat back up, cheeks flushing as he turned back to their patrol.

"Why thank you ma'am! Had a bit a'trouble with aim, but I had some good help."

She smiled, watching him a moment.

"You can call me Tamora."

* * *

By his third day on full patrol, none of the soldiers were betting against Felix; several were usually waiting to greet him, Kohut among them.

By the end of the week Calhoun usually met him as the train pulled in rather than wait with her men, and very occasionally she greeted him at cleanup in Niceland rather than wait at Hero's Duty. 'Fix-it' became simply 'Felix', 'Tamora' became 'Tammy Jean', and she could no longer imagine her evening routine without him coming by to help and the two of them heading to Sugar Rush after.

Which meant that, as much as she didn't mind letting him borrow spare weapons meant as player power-ups, she felt like he needed something a bit more _him_.

Maybe something he could carry outside the game.

Just in case.

"Is it ready?" she asked gruffly. The quartermaster turned to her with a grin, head tilted.

"What, your boyfriend's new toy?"

"He's _not_-"

She faltered, considering. No, the irritating little nuisance grinning at her maybe had a point.

Fine, he was her boyfriend.

"It's _not_ a toy," she said instead. "Do you have it or not, Fleece?"

"I've got it." He was still grinning as he laid the custom weapon on the counter. Sleek and a bit smaller than the usual HD firearm (Felix had shown an ability with and maybe even a liking for large firearms that amused her, but she wanted something he could easily carry at all times), highlighted in blue. She lifted it, testing the weight, and nodded.

"Good. Good job, Quartermaster."

She turned and marched out, allowing herself a smile as she headed off to meet Felix.

Maybe it wasn't the most romantic gift - but it definitely cemeted once and for all that she wanted him to take care of himself, that she appreciated his help.

And, just a little, that he was definitely her boyfriend, and anyone who had anything to say could answer to either of them.


	16. The Nightmare

For a moment, Ralph wasn't sure what had awakened him or where he was.

He had been sleeping soundly - in an odd position from the way his neck ached, and on a hard, oddly textured floor. Instead of Fix-it Felix Jr's permanent night there was sun streaming through a small gap in heavy curtains, and he could hear muffled, cheerful music.

Right. Sugar Rush.

He yawned, stretching gingerly, and then winced at a tiny whimper, the same sound that had somehow roused him from sleep.

Vanellope.

She was curled tight on her bed, pillow on the floor and blankets a tangle. Still asleep, but with a tension in her face he'd rarely seen.

Dreaming.

"Hey. Kid?"

He brushed a careful forefinger against her cheek. She opened her eyes with a small, sharp gasp, blinking several times before suddenly latching onto him, clutching that finger with both arms and hiding her face against it.

"Ralph..."

Her voice was low, heartbreaking rough; he could feel her tremble, feel tears on his skin, and he sighed as he carefully lifted her, holding her against his chest.

"Aw, kid... shh, it's okay..."

She clung for a few wordless moments, shaking her head. Ralph waited helpessly, holding her in place; his hands itched for something to wreck, something he could just smash to solve the problem.

Too few could be solved that way.

"B-bugs," she mumbled after a moment.

"Oh." He'd suspected as much, and didn't feel any less useless.

"And you were there, a-and the volcano... and... and... then it was like in the mines when he changed..."

"Just a dream. It was just a dream, Vanellope." He kept his voice as low as he could, hoping the rough growl of it wouldn't upset her further. "See? I'm here. He's not. No bugs."

She clung all the tighter, and he silently thanked both their lucky stars she'd never gotten a good look at what Turbo had become. After a few moments her shivering began to subside; she hiccuped once and looked up at him, brows knitted in lingering anxiety.

"I... I know that, Stinkbrain. But... what if..."

"No buts." He brought up his free hand to very carefully wipe his thumb across her cheeks one after the other, nearly obscuring her face with each pass. "I'm here. Okay?"

She nodded mutely, and he sighed as he settled back against the wall.

"Not the first time, is it." He didn't have to see her slow, miserable headshake to know he was right, and he sighed again. "Well, I... look. How about this. How about I stick around til it's time to open?"

A long pause.

"Y-you would?" The tone was nervous, her eyes wide as she played with her fingers.

"Sure." He smiled, and she gave him a tiny smile in return. "Any time you need me to."

She hugged him in answer, all but disappearing against him; to further soothe her he did his best to brush out sleep-tangles from her hair (a nerve-wracking task, large and clumsy as he was and dainty and fragile as she was even if she sometimes didn't know it, but she seemed to enjoy it so he kept trying). After that she almost immediately fell asleep once he tucked her back in, and he settled in himself.

Not the first time.

Probably not the last.

But she wouldn't have to stick it out alone again.


	17. The Kart

"Okay guys, okay, quiet a second."

Vanellope waved her hands to quiet her fellow racers and then bobbed on tiptoe to peek over a jawbreaker. King Candy was making his way back to the castle to see what progress Felix and the others had made on unlocking him; once he disappeared altogether Vanellope hopped down, turning to face the others.

"Okay. We gotta get him to race. Not that I'm not dying to know if the code's got an answer and all, but I like the race answer better."

Taffyta grinned, shrugging.

"It's your answer to everything."

"Well, it's _your_ answer to everything too."

"Hey, I didn't say it was a bad answer." Taffyta shrugged again, folding her arms as she directed her gaze toward the clouds. "I gotta say. It was weird at first, but now I'm curious about how the _real_ King Candy measures up against..." She caught the other racers' stares and blushed, reaching for an uneaten lollipop. "Against... the rest of us. Yeah."

"Yeah," Rancis said, nodding. "I mean... every new racer has to be measured up. Right?"

"Right." Vanellope swayed on her feet. "He just needs a little... convincing?"

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Jubileena asked. "Follow him around going 'please please pleeeease' and make the big eyes when he turns around? It works on my dad..."

"Uh, no." Vanellope shook her head. "Sarge would prolly chuck me off Diet Cola Mountain before he gave up." She giggled, bouncing slightly. "What we're gonna do... is show him we _want_ him to race, and we're not scared."

"Um... _I'm_ scared," Adorabeezle murmured. Vanellope shrugged.

"Well, okay I am too. But... I think maybe not as much as he is. When grown-ups are scared it's... well, never mind. I can pretend I'm not; I'm good at that. _And_ I have an idea for the first one."

* * *

Twenty-four sweet little go-karts parked outside the kart bakery, and Vanellope relished being able to walk in with no more fanfare than a wave from Beard Papa. Once inside the selection area she turned on her heel to face the other children.

"Here's the deal. A lot of you saw the kart that was unlocked for King Gramps. Now - who here can tell me what was wrong with it? Unlocks are exempt from this quiz," she added as she noticed the unlockable racers exchanging puzzled looks. After a few seconds Candlehead raised her hand and Vanellope pointed at her.

"Um... it kinda looks like the scary king's go-kart. The one that was supposed to be yours."

"Ex-_act_-ly. Aside from color is basically looks _just_ like the old ki-like _Turbo's_ kart." Vanellope wrinkled her nose, shaking her head once. "The one he stole anyway. So - if I feel creeped out driving that rotten thing, I can't blame him for stashing the other one out of sight and not wanting to deal with it. He even had Ralph carry it to the castle. So!" She spread her hands out. "What do you think looks good? And, uh... have any of you ever made a kart before?"

There was a chorus of no as they spread out to look at the kart buttons on display. Vanellope shrugged as she joined them in perusing the buttons.

"Oh well, it can't be that hard. This is a democracy, so let's take a vote on the type!"

It didn't take long to settle on a heavy-backed sprint car - Candlehead remarked that the round shape reminded her of its intended owner and most of the others sided with her - and Vanellope hit the button to open the bakery.

"Okay - we got one minute per try but we've got all night, let's do it!"

* * *

On the first two tries they didn't even make it past the ingredient stage.

On the third, Gloyd asked how Vanellope had done it with Ralph; when she admitted that Ralph had stood on the beam and tossed ingredients in, Gloyd immediately climbed up to try it, and like with Ralph he quickly got them past it.

"Hey, look, we made it to - waugh!"

Also like Ralph, he'd been knocked into the batter. Vanellope rolled her eyes, waiting for him to be tossed out before baking; when he _wasn't_ dumped like Ralph due to his far lighter weight, they all stared a moment before Vanellope glitched onto the belt, pushing back on the pan to keep it out of the oven.

"Get him out! Get him get him get him!"

Gloyd was fished out on time, but it took them all a few minutes to recover.

"Yanno, we're not thinking this through," Vanellope said at last. "For one thing, maybe we oughtta have more than one kid on the Ingredients beam and a couple waiting to get 'em out if they fall. And we don't need everybody at every station." She looked the group over a moment and nodded.

"Yeah. Division of labor, that's the ticket. Gloyd, you did pretty good. You're captain of the Ingredients Team. Taffyta's good at keeping an eye on stuff, she'll head Safety Team, and Candlehead's got Baking Team. As for me - obviously I'm captain of Decorating." She grinned, quickly counting on her fingers. "Six on a team including captains... um, I'll take Crumbelina and Rancis for sure, and Lemona and Snowanna, and... let's see, Coco. Everybody else, divide up!"

Things went more smoothly after the division. There were two failed bakes before Candlehead's team got the hang of the pump but nothing as near-disastrous as Gloyd's spill, and the kart rolled into the decorating section at last.

"Twenty seconds," Vanellope said with a grin. "Wait'll I tell Ralph we beat him! Okay, girls-and-guy, just like we talked about! Donut wheels first - let's show the other teams and make it on the first try! Okay okay, less brown, more of the purple... no, not that one, the dark one! Crumbelina, get the gold! Hey, think he'll mind if I put some sprinkles on the back?"

"Splash of more color'll do it good," Snowanna said.

"Heh, you always say that. Okay, it's done!"

All four teams gathered as the kart emerged, examining it in silence for a moment. Then Vanellope grinned, skipping forward.

"Well - we can't all sign it like mine - so we'll put _his_ name on it."

She put the lettering on carefully - a new color for each letter, so even with only nine colors every racer had at least one color to connect them to the kart - and then stepped back to examine their handiwork one more time.

"We did good, guys - we did good. Thanks. Now!"

She bounced toward the door, glancing back to wave them on.

"Let's talk to King Gramps!"


	18. Discipline

Vanellope straightened up and crossed her arms, staring hard at the trio of racers in front of her. Keeping still and silent was a trial, but she was the President of Sugar Rush - a position of dignity, at least when she felt like it - and she could wait. As the silence dragged on the other three began to fidget and glance at each other; when Swizzle actually shifted his footing she cleared her throat, tipping her chin up just slightly and focusing on him until he was still again.

"All right," she said at last, "whose idea was it to stick fizzbangs in bouncy balls and throw them into Beard Papa's booth?"

"It was mine!" Gloyd said cheerfully. Swizzle and Sticky both turned to stare at him, and he waved them off as they started to protest. "Well, okay, Sticky brought the fizzbangs and Swizzle came up with the idea to scare people, but the bouncy balls were all my idea." He grinned, head tilting. "Pretty great, huh?"

It took all of Vanellope's willpower not to grin back; fizzing noisemakers bouncing all over the place _was_ pretty ingenius. Still, Beard Papa really had been upset - and while a joke was all well and good, there was one thing Vanellope was determined not to allow in her game.

"It could've been," she admitted after a moment. "But your target was all wrong."

"We didn't know it would freak him out _that_ much," Swizzle protested. "It was just-"

"Just jokes?" Vanellope finished cooly. Swizzle bit his lip, looking uneasily at the other two.

"We're sorry, Vanellope," Sticky said after a moment. "W-we didn't think. We'll... _I'll_ be more careful next time."

Vanellope finally smiled, letting herself drop into a more animated posture.

"Atta girl - just what I wanna hear. And you're gonna apologize to Beard Papa too?" She waited for all three to nod, then grinned again.

"Great! So, y'got any left? Because, that _could_ be pretty funny with the right target..."

* * *

Once the three left Vanellope with a trio of the enhanced bouncy balls she turned to the curtain behind the throne, voice a bit smaller.

"Did I do okay that time?"

Calhoun stepped out of hiding, biting back a grin as she studied the president.

"Better - you didn't lose it like when a couple of 'em painted Blondie's kart green."

Vanellope giggled, shaking her head.

"Well... Taffyta can handle herself, but I... I kinda don't like it when people's karts get screwed with. But it was still a pretty good color for her, right?"

Calhoun did smile that time, nodding as she ruffled Vanellope's hair.

"Yeah. Just remember, Cavity Queen - if you can't discipline with a straight face, you can't be expected to be taken seriously." She paused, head tilting. "So - who are those for?"

"Ralph." Vanellope giggled again, smoothing back bangs Calhoun had brushed into her eyes. "He handles fallen Mentos like a pro, he'll just ballet around some and then chase me all over the place." She bounced up on her toes, holding out one of the bouncy balls. "Wanna come?"

Calhoun couldn't help grinning back as she plucked the object from Vanellope's hands.

"Sure, sweetstuff. Wouldn't miss it."


	19. Pop Rocks

Ralph stepped out of Sugar Rush, barely glancing up as the package in his hands set off the border alert. Nothing new, nothing unexpected, and by the time the Surge Protector appeared he was rocking calmly on his feet.

"Name?"

"Wreck-it Ralph."

The Surge Protector gave him a startled look, brows raised; Ralph tried to remember the last time he hadn't responded sarcastically and couldn't.

Great. The guy would probably think he was up to something based on just that.

"Ah. Well... where are you coming from?"

Ralph rolled his eyes, gesturing up at the signboard.

"Sugar Rush, as usual."

"Mmhm. Where you headed?"

"Fix-it Felix Jr."

"Anything to declare?"

"Uh... yeah, actually." Ralph shifted his weight, tossing the package lightly between his hands. "I uh... remember that day we were asking you about what happened when Turbo got out of RoadBlasters?" Surge hesitated but nodded once, and Ralph nodded back. "Yeah, uh. I remember Felix said something about not being able to find any Pop Rocks. You uh... you like those?"

"I don't actually know." The Surge Protector shrugged, tucking his pen and clipboard away; evidently he had an inventory like some game characters. "I've only heard of them - comes down the line when characters hear players mention it, and sometimes when a laptop is plugged in we get some feedback - and I wanted to try it. Apparently it's a candy you're supposed to mix with cola, must be why they're called 'pop rocks'."

"Oh. That explains what it's doing there." Surge Protector tilted his head at the remark, brows raising again, and Ralph shrugged a bit as he elaborated. "You know Sugar Rush has some unlocks, right? We got another one out of limbo today. Cola themed."

"Right, Nicola Fizzman. She's registered in my memory."

"But you're still gonna ask her name when she comes out of here, right?"

"Protocol."

"Sure, sure." Ralph grinned a little. "Anyway, cola racer's got this cola track, and one of the obstacles is a landslide every few minutes. Turns out, the pebbles are Pop Rocks." He held out the package, shrugging a bit. "I, uh, don't have any cola."

"I... thank you Ralph. Um, that's all right. The cola can always come later." Surge Protector took the package, opening it carefully, and Ralph nodded a little.

"Yeah, I... I just remembered you asking. And since we talked I was thinking... y'know, maybe I've been going about this wrong. I mean, I _do_ take stuff between games a lot..."

"Most of it harmless, but yes."

"Yeah. And, uh... y'know, I was... I mean, for a long time people in my game were..." Ralph took a breath and shrugged a little. "It's... kinda hard to love your job when no one seems to like you for doing it."

"Don't I know it." Surge shrugged. "So... have _you_ tried them?"

"Me? I... well, no..."

"All right then." The Surge Protector held out the package, and Ralph held out a hand so Surge could shake a few of the candies onto his palm. Then Surge took a handful himself and, at the same time, they downed them.

They both almost choked, the Surge Protector's form wavering in electric blue sparks while Ralph thumped a hand against the floor and gulped.

"Augh! _Weird_! Is... it _supposed_ to...?"

"I think so. At the least I don't detect any faults in it." Surge's form steadied as he recovered, and he studied the candy a moment before looking at Ralph. "So..."

"I'll bring the cola tomorrow."

"Right. Right, should be... interesting."

"You're telling me. Night, Surge."

"Night. And... thanks again."

"No problem." Ralph grinned, giving the officer a little wave as he strolled off. Surge Protector waved back before zipping off, candy and all, and Ralph headed home content.


	20. The Helper

Having Sour Bill waddling solicitously at her side was probably not the strangest thing about Vanellope's new life, but it was definitely pretty strange. Since reset he'd rarely left her side unless she was actually racing; now, with the arcade closing and her first day over, she couldn't seem to go anywhere without the sourball underfoot.

She bit back an impatient remark, nose wrinkling. He was probably just trying to do a good job, trying to make up for what shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Which he had helped with.

Vanellope paused, trying to decide how to put the question delicately. She couldn't, so instead she asked straight out.

"Why did you help him?"

Soul Bill froze, eyes widening. He cleared his throat once, casting a furtive glance toward a King Candy flower arrangement still displayed at the trackside before looking up at Vanellope again.

Then he sighed, slumping as much as his odd little body allowed.

"I... don't have an answer for that, your Highness." Vanellope tapped her foot lightly and he blushed dark green. "I mean... Miss President."

"Ralph said... when he came and got me from the dungeon he said you knew everything. You told him everything."

He nodded slightly, a strange faraway look coming over his face.

"Yes. He mentioned you being on the side of the console and it came to me. Still something there I didn't catch, couldn't grasp until you reset. But I remembered."

Vanellope frowned, shaking her head slightly.

"Um... okay. But why'd you help him get at the code in the first place?"

"I don't know." He frowned, looking at nothing in particular, and jumped slightly when Vanellope grumbled. "I honestly don't, Miss President. I... well... it's not all sorted out, the overlaid memories, so..."

He was perturbed, wringing jellybean hands; Vanellope felt a tiny stab of pity and sighed, reaching over to pat the top of his head.

"Hey, no sweat. I mean... I'm still sorting out programmed memories from what I thought I knew, yanno? And... that's... all gone now. The blocks are gone, _he's_ gone... and... and you'll help _me_, right? With running things?"

Sour Bill nodded, looking relieved.

"Of course, President Vanellope. Anything you need."

"Good." She grinned, giving him another pat. "So - how about you go on up to the box while I meet Ralph, and we'll start running this show like it was _meant_ to be?"

He nodded again.

"As you say, Miss President."

Sour Bill hurried off - he didn't seem particularly eager to be around Ralph for some reason - and Vanellope smiled a little as she turned to look up the path from the game's entrance.

She'd give Bill the benefit of the doubt for now; either way, there were three people she _knew_ she could count on.


	21. The Bug

Sergeant Calhoun swayed slightly on her feet, blinking hard in a vain attempt to dispel what had to be lingering sleep-fog. She was bone-tired in a way days without sleep had never left her, her armor felt stuffy and far too heavy, her limbs were stiff and her every joint and muscle and _fiber_ ached in deep, dull throbs.

A low groan escaped before she could stop it, and the nearest soldiers turned to stare at her.

She could barely muster the energy to glare back; even _squinting_ hurt.

"What're you daisies looking at?" she grumbled. Her voice was rough in a way outside its usual slight raspiness, and she scowled again as Kohut stepped forward.

"Everything all right, Sarge?"

"Fine," she snapped back. "Just... be ready, opening in five minutes."

"All right." Kohut shrugged slightly. "Just tell him that."

"Tell me what, Tammy Jean?"

She bit her lip and suppressed another groan, turning slowly to face Felix. Of _course_ he chose today to make one of his morning stopovers; he was standing just inside the game's entrance with a tray of steaming fresh muffins and a quizzical expression. After a moment he passed the muffins to Kohut (who began dutifully handing them out) and took Calhoun's hand, tugging gently until she reluctantly knelt.

"Hm." He peeled off his other glove to lay a bare palm against her cheek, and she winced at how cold his touch felt. "I take it this's never happened to any of you before." He smiled sympathetically as he put his glove back on. "Little fritzes happen sometimes - twenty-four hour bug, really."

"One day, huh?" Calhoun got back to her feet, only slightly off-balance; really, the floor was swaying a lot more than _she_ was. "That's fine. Just fine. Little shooting ought to get my mind off it."

Felix wasn't listening. He had already turned to Kohut.

"How much would it affect gameplay if you took her lead role for a day?"

"What?" Calhoun yelped, putting a hand to the wall for balance. "No one said anything about-"

"Not too much," Kohut said, carefully not looking at his superior. "Gamers'll probably think it's a random selection or something."

"Dammit Kohut, I-"

"And y'know the script?"

"Fix-it..."

"Like it was my own." Kohut still wasn't looking at her; she resorted to silently fuming and planning _exactly_ what she was going to tell the both of them when they finally shut up.

"Good. Guess convincin' her's the thing."

"Well I'm glad you remembered I have a say in this," Calhoun grumbled as Felix turned to her. "And you're not gonna convince me. This is my duty. No stupid bug's keeping me from it - not a Cy-bug and not this twenty-four hour bull."

"Well, ma'am, there is that." Felix nodded. "And I don't doubt you can still do it. But, Tammy Jean - bugs aside, what's your duty in this game?"

"To get players to the top of that tower."

"So they can earn a medal. Yes ma'am. So... you'd say you're in service to your player when quarter alerts go up?"

"Well... yeah."

"And to serve th'player, it's best for you t'be at _your_ best?"

"I... well..." She scowled again. "Damn it Fix-it. Fine. I'll report to the infirmary and-"

"Now now, ma'am - sorry t'interrupt - but Hero's Duty... well, it's an awful noisy game. So why don't you come on back to Niceland an' get some real rest?"

"And you playing nursemaid between quarter alerts, is that it?" Calhoun stared down at Felix, who only smiled in response to the question; after a moment she sighed, nodding once. "Okay. Fine, Niceland it is."

He took her by the hand to lead her out, and behind them the Marines fell into line under Kohut.

"Gonna put her up in your room, Fix-it?" one called.

"Oh, no sir," Felix replied. "Can't have gameplay disturbing her every quarter alert. I'll ask Ralph to let her bunk awhile."

This time, she didn't bother trying to suppress her groan.

* * *

Ralph turned out to be both accomodating and smart enough to let the situation pass without comment; he'd merely waved them in with a remark something like 'my home is your home' and then headed out to his stump for the day. His home was, despite the rickety exterior, surprisingly comfortable, and once her armor was off Calhoun sank gratefully into the marshmallowlike bed.

Given how close he was to the Cavity Queen, chances were good it _was_ marshmallow. At least it wasn't sticky.

"All right, honeybadger," Felix crooned, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I've got soup here, an' tea with lots a'honey - figured you'd like it sweet like your coffee."

"And my men," she mumbled. She didn't realized she'd said it aloud until Felix blushed and grinned, and she buried herself in the tea to hide her own blush. "S'good."

"Good. Now eat up, the warm'll help with the aches." He leaned in to kiss her forehead, and she smiled a bit in response. "I've got a quarter alert, but I'll be back real soon."

She nodded, picking up her spoon to start in on the soup. The warmth _did_ make her feel better, and once she was finished she settled in to sleep.

* * *

It was a mercifully slow day; while Calhoun ended up sleeping through most of it, when she woke Felix was nearly always there - greeting her with a fresh cup of tea or lightly stroking her hair as he read or fussily pulling the blankets up around her.

She barely heard him telling Ralph to let Vanellope know what was going on, though she was more awake a few hours later when the Cavity Queen herself came by with a Get Well Cake. It turned out to be molten fudge; like with the soup, the heat of it soothed her and the rich buttery chocolate further improved her mood.

After the cake she went back to sleep again, with Felix once more running gentle fingers over her hair.

* * *

The next time she woke Felix was asleep beside her, her vision was sharp and clear, and the aches were entirely gone.

Twenty-four hours.

Calhoun couldn't quite suppress a grin as she got up and stretched - nothing like feeling like herself again - and then leaned over Felix, butting her forehead against his.

"Morning sunshine."

He blinked awake immediately, grinning up at her as he rubbed sleepily at one eye.

"Mornin' honeybadger. Didn't a day a' rest do a world a' good?"

"According to you, I'd have been fine in twenty-four hours anyway." She straightened up, giving him a measuring look before smiling again. "But thanks for the bedside manner, Fix-it."

"Anytime y'need it, ma'am." He hopped from his perch, offering a hand. "Up to meetin' Ralph an' Vanellope for breakfast?"

She nodded, taking his hand.

"Sure, I think I'm up for that. Pancakes before I go make sure the boys know I haven't gone soft over this."

Felix chuckled, nodding as they headed out.

"Oh, no fear of that ma'am. They all know no bug's gonna stop you."

"You got that right."

She gave his hand a squeeze, and they headed out into the pre-opening bustle.


	22. Exit

"Okay, kid - you ready for this?"

Vanellope was bouncing in place as Ralph spoke, eyes wide as she gazed up at Sugar Rush's exit.

"Ready. _Am_ I ready? I mean, wait. The races went great and all, nothing's screwed up, but this? Leaving the game, that's... a pretty big step, right? And I mean what if it doesn't even work?"

"What?" Ralph knelt, brow furrowing. "Why wouldn't it work?"

Vanellope sighed, holding her arms out to her sides as blue pixels danced over her form.

"Cuz I still do this. And this." She glitched up onto his shoulder, hopping to the other shoulder and from there glitching back to the ground. "I still... glitches can't leave their game, remember?"

"Ah, kid." Ralph shook his head, taking her by the shoulders to steady her. "You're not a glitch, remember? You just have pixlexia."

"Very funny." She stuck her tongue out at him, arms crossing. "So how come I can still do it?"

"I dunno." He shrugged, picking her up as he stood and starting toward the exit. "Something to do with the code being disconnected so long, maybe. We don't really have any experts to ask that I know of, and no one seems to remember what it as like before, so there's that. As for leaving - well, we're not gonna know unless we try."

She squirmed a little but relaxed, watching the approaching portal with suspiciously narrowed eyes. She'd tried a hundred times before she ever met Ralph, clearly remembered his attempts to force her through and Felix and Calhoun tugging at her hands once he'd gone off to the volcano, and she was already tensing for the painful shock of the barrier.

"Glitches can't leave their game," she muttered.

"Yeah, well, everyone was saying glitches can't race either. And none of that matters anyway, you're not a glitch."

She bit her lip, eyes squinching shut as she braced herself.

Nothing happened, except that even through closed lids she could sense that they'd stepped into a darker area. Ralph had stopped walking but remained silent, waiting patiently; after a few beats she slowly squinted one eye open, peeking through her lashes at the new environment.

"This is... outside?"

"Yup."

"We left the game?"

"Yup."

She was still a beat longer. Then she glitched free of Ralph's hands to bounce around the dingy entryway, poking at bricks and railings and tracing the lines of graffiti.

"We're out, I'm out, I _did_ leave the game, we're out of Sugar Rush and this is... is..."

She took another look around, nose wrinkling and hands fisting on hips.

"This is pretty boring, actually."

"Yeah, well." Ralph chuckled, kneeling beside her. "There are some more interesting things on the other side of the outlet, kiddo. For one thing, food that's not so sugared up it's gritty."

"Our food's not gritty. What kind of food?" She turned back to him, pivoting on one black-booted foot, and he grinned again.

"Okay okay. First stop is Burger Time. So you ready to take the first step?"

"Yeah." She glanced around the outlet again and shivered, glitching with a nervousness she couldn't quite place. "This place is creepy anyhow. Let's see how this non-sugared food stuff tastes."

"You got it, kid."

He swept her back up onto his shoulder with one big hand and headed out for Game Central proper, Vanellope bouncing eagerly all the way.


	23. A Night Out

Even under Turbo's control King Candy had never set foot outside out Sugar Rush, and even under Vanellope's invitation it felt odd to step out into the bright bustle of Game Central Station with her, Ralph, Felix, and Sergeant Calhoun. He blinked at the strangely smooth lines (not a trace of sugar or frosting) and at the half-metallic, half-electric smell of the place, and unconsciously stepped a bit closer to Ralph.

The strange environment was far from the worst of it. By now, the entire arcade knew what had gone on in Sugar Rush under Turbo's rule, and after being restored King Candy was so used to the careful behavior of the candy people that he wasn't certain he was prepared for people who had no backstory memory of him and _did_ have over two decades of Turbo's legends to go on.

A few glanced at them curiously, and he could only offer a nervous smile in response.

"Don't look so worried," Vanellope offered from her usual perch on Ralph's shoulder. King Candy glanced up at her, strides slowing, and she glitched down with a grin. "Trust me - it only _feels_ like everyone's looking at you."

"Ah... thank you, that's... very reassuring."

"I thought it would be." She nodded, satisfied, and after a brief hesitation reached to shyly take hold of his hand, grasping Ralph's on the other side. "I mean, _I_ felt pretty weird the first time I left Sugar Rush, after... y'know."

"I had to carry her to get her to even leave the game, so you made it further than she did alone," Ralph said. Vanellope released his hand to punch it.

"You did not! I mean... I woulda gone. I just... y'know what never mind." She cleared her throat, posture straightening as they walked. "We're not here to talk about _my_ first time out. We're gonna have Family Night and have _his_ first night out."

King Candy chuckled.

"I believe you, Vanny. Nothing would've stopped you."

"Exactly!" She nodded again, giving him that tiny tentative grin, and then dashed ahead of them. "And look, look - here it is, Tappers! And over there is Ralph and Felix's game, maybe we can go later, and over there is Sarge's-"

"Where we can't go later," Calhoun said drily.

"No need to worry about that, my dear," King Candy said with a shrug. "Now then - Tappers?"

* * *

He was already feeling better by the time they settled in at Tappers. Ralph paused to greet a few stern-looking characters that King Candy took to be Bad-Anon members and Calhoun waved off a trio of Marines; after that the five were more or less anonymous in the crowd.

"Hey hey, watch!" Vanellope, just small enough to not quite be comfortable at a barstool's highest setting, had settled onto the bar proper; she grinned at them all, hefting a root beer in both hands. "I bet I can finish this faster than Ralph."

"Uh, gumdrop," Felix began, "I don't know if-"

"Show us," Calhoun interrupted. "I'll bet on you." She quirked a brow at the others, one corner of her mouth turning up just slightly as she placed a Hero's Duty credit on the counter. Felix sighed, shaking his head.

"Ohh, all right. Guess I'll bet on Ralph, then." He placed a Mushroom Kingdom coin on the counter while Vanellope wailed in betrayal. "King Candy?"

"Vanellope, of course." He added a small chocolate coin on the HD credit. "Now - both equally full?"

"Yup." Ralph hefted his mug with a grin. "Well, kid? Think bets in your favor'll make any difference?"

"Pssh, I'll win anyway. Somebody count us down!"

Felix, Calhoun, and King Candy all three counted down in unison, following the familiar beat of a Sugar Rush race countdown. On GO, Vanellope and Ralph both knocked back their drinks, Ralph draining his easily.

Vanellope threw hers back with such enthusiasm that she fell backwards off the bar, remaining root beer splashing down on her as she lay there giggling.

"I won, right?"

"Hey!" Ralph reached down to seize her by the back of her sopping hoodie, hauling her back up. "No way that was a win for you!"

"Nonsense, Ralph." King Candy hopped from his stool, heading toward the main bar for napkins. "That splash clearly came _before_ you were finished."

"It doesn't count if it didn't make it in her mouth!"

"No one said anything about that," Calhoun retorted. "Her terms were 'finish'."

The argument faded into crowd noise as King Candy reached the main bar. The napkins were out of reach with no available stool to climb on to get at them, so he reached up to tap a man at the bar on the elbow. The stranger glanced down after a moment, focusing with one blue eye and one red robotic eye.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry to bother, but I can't quite reach." King Candy pointed at the napkin dispenser. "Would you mind? We had a bit of a... gambling accident."

"Sure, no problem!" The cyborg grinned, reaching to seize a large handful of napkins with a set of metallic claws to match the eye. "Haven't seen you around," he added as he passed them down. "We get a new plug-in or something?"

"Afraid not; I just haven't spent much time outside my game for... a few reasons. I'm King Candy, from over in Sugar Rush."

"Oh. _That_ game." The cyborg furrowed his brow and King Candy winced slightly, but the man evidently wasn't too fixated on the event. "Name's Kano - Mortal Kombat. Heard about your game from another bad guy." He grinned again. "Couldn't tell I was one, could you?"

"Not in the slightest," King Candy deadpanned. Kano laughed, nodding once.

"Right! Enjoy your gambling, then - has something to do with that kid of Ralph's?"

"Yes, as well as the floor and two pints of root beer."

"Ha! Your game might be worth checking out after all from the sound of that!"

King Candy imagined the hulking cyborg in Sugar Rush's pastel landscape and laughed.

"Well, you're welcome, of course. Perhaps later, Mister Kano."

"Mister, huh?" Kano laughed again. "Sure, sure. Take care, little man."

"Hey, who's this?" Vanellope had gotten curious about the delay and come to find him; on realizing who he was talking to she glitched up onto the bar, still dripping with root beer as she peered up at Kano. "Huh - _cool_. You gonna introduce us or what?"

"Of course, of course. Vanny, this is Kano, he's from Mortal Kombat. Mister Kano, this is-"

"Vanellope." Kano grinned. "You have a reputation."

"I do?" Vanellope perked up. "Wow! And I've only been going out a month!"

"Guess you work fast." Kano finished his drink, looking them both over. "You Sugar Rush people aren't afraid of much, are you."

Vanellope and King Candy glanced at each other, then shrugged as they looked back at Kano.

"All things considered, I suppose we're not."

"Nope! Nothing worth a freakout here!"

"Huh." Kano nodded, smiling again. "Fair enough."

"Hey, hey - bet I can finish a drink faster than him too!" Vanellope looked at King Candy, head tilting. "You think so?"

"Well," King Candy said slowly, "I suppose there's only one way to find out. Would you care to join us, Mister Kano?"

"Why not?" Kano got to his feet, rolling his shoulders; after a considering look at Vanellope he grabbed another handful of napkins and strode toward Ralph, who waved as he spotted him. "Let's do this."

Vanellope glitched off, cackling at the prospect of both another possibly unwitting victim and another dousing, and after a moment King Candy chucked and jogged after them.

He really _would_ have to get out more often.


	24. Ice Skating

Vanellope edged her way onto the ice, wobbling on her skates as she watched Adorabeezle glide out ahead of her. Snowanna was just behind her to occasionally give her a steadying push if she wobbled too far one way or another; once they were several feet out Adorabeezle turned around to return, catching Vanellope by the hands to tug her along.

"See? It's not so hard."

"Yeah." Vanellope smiled uncertainly, looking past Adorabeezle to the smoothly frozen expanse. "You uh... you two do this a lot?"

"Adorabeezle more than me," Snowanna said as she slowly skated out from behind Vanellope. She grinned, head tilting slightly. "Hey, you haven't busted anything yet Prez. It's just like a race - find your rhythm, you'll get it."

"Rhythm, sure." Vanellope cleared her throat, brows raised. "Never thought much about rhythm while I'm racing."

"Rhythm, groove, whatever. You've got it on the track for sure."

"Whatever works for you is fine, really," Adorabeezle said. She let go, watching Vanellope's halting progress with a critical eye. "Hm, do you think this much when you drive?"

"I did at first. I kept hitting things. Usually Ralph."

"My point exactly." Adorabeezle nodded. "Don't think about it - just look at me, and come on! Ralph's not here, so there's no need to worry about _that_."

"Yeah, too bad - he'd make a good cushion."

All three of them giggled at that, Adorabeezle and Snowanna nodding as they moved to stand side-by-side several feet ahead of Vanellope.

"All right, Miss President," Adorabeezle said, holding her hands out again. "Come and tag me!"

"If you skate like you race I'll-wait, no, you beat me today didn't you?" Vanellope scrunched her face up, wobbling forward. "That Ice Cream Cannon's a killer."

"Yes, there's a reason I like being on the giving end." Adorabeezle grinned, moving back a pace.

"H-hey, keep still! Um, how far out are we going?"

The other two exchanged a look.

"Well, as far as the ice is thick enough," Snowanna said after a moment. "I know it all looks the same, but Beezie and me, we have a feel for it. Why - tired already?"

"N-no, I..." Vanellope tried to stick her hands in her pockets and nearly fell, wobbling dangerously until she flung her arms back out for balance. "I've, uh, been up here before. The rest of you were up here - the other racers - and I tried to cut across the ice to see what you guys were doing. It's uh... not as solid at the middle, huh?"

"No," Adorabeezle said slowly after a moment. "Sometimes it's not. Oh, Vanellope. I'm sorry... even with... we should have told you about _that_ at least..."

"It's... no sweat. Really. I mean I got out. It was... _cold_ is all."

"And hey, you're back out again." Snowanna grinned. "Not everyone would be. Just don't go past us, okay? When there's more of us we use gumdrop markers, but today use us."

"Trust us, okay?" Adorabeezle said softly.

"Okay. I do." Vanellope smiled, reaching her hands out; the other girls mirrored the pose, and Vanellope began inching her way forward again.

Just before she reached them she finally lost her footing, bellyflopping onto the ice with a resounding thud. Adorabeezle and Snowanna both stared at her, hands over their mouths, as she slowly rolled her eyes up to them.

"You guys are allowed to laugh, yanno." She grinned again as a tiny giggled escaped Adorabeezle. "Just help me up, okay?"

"Okay, okay." Snowanna chuckled as they hauled Vanellope up, one on each side to hold her hands until she had her balance back. "How's that?"

"Okay." Vanellope shrugged. "Don't think I'll ever be a figure skater, though."

"Well, I'm not president material either." Adorabeezle shrugged as well. "But we'll work on it - you don't have to be a figure skater, but I bet you can play with us just fine!"

"Yeah," Vanellope said after a moment. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Great!" Snowanna punched her shoulder gently, nearly unbalancing all three of them. "For now, we can celebrate your first wipeout with a hot chocolate break - there's a spring near here!"

"A hot chocolate spring?" Vanellope nodded. "Lead on then! I mean - as president it's my duty to know every inch of Sugar Rush, right?"

"Right!"

The other two chimed their answer in unison, and with their help Vanellope skated awkwardly back to shore to head for the springs.


	25. Glitch

[[A/N: Day 25 was published as a separate story, First Christmas. This is Day 26.]]

"Vanellope, what are you doing here?"

Taffyta folded her arms and tipped her chin up, eyes narrowed as she stared Vanellope down. The other girl - _the glitch_, Taffyta reminded herself - had been peering into windows at the kart bakery, so deep in concentration that she hadn't heard Taffyta's approach. She hopped to her feet, twiddling her hands nervously as blue glitches ran over her body; Taffyta shuddered at the sight of them, looking away as Vanellope spoke.

"I was just... I wanted to see the kart parts and stuff, I... well, I..."

"No one's gonna let you work on their kart." Taffyta sniffed, looking at Vanellope again. "You can't touch them - who knows what'll happen?"

"N-nothing will happen," Vanellope said quietly. "I just... well, I thought... maybe if there was one no one was using I could-"

"_You_?" Taffyta scoffed. "You can't _be_ a racer, Vanellope. Is that a joke?" She turned on her heel. "I'm going to get Beard Papa. You shouldn't even be near this place."

"Wait! Taffyta, no, hold on a second..."

She grabbed Taffyta by the hand as she did, voice warping as she glitched. With the contact the glitches washed over Taffyta as well, and the blonde gasped at sudden, horrifying clarity.

Vanellope was a racer.

Vanellope was her friend.

Her _princess_.

What was she _doing_?

Fear and anger stabbed through her as she turned to look at Vanellope. How could she forget? Who had _done_ that to her?

When she found them, she'd...

The glitches ended, the moment with them, and Taffyta jerked away bewildered.

Still afraid, still angry.

Why?

"Vanellope," she hissed. She narrowed her eyes as she took a step closer to the other girl, who shrank back in satisfying fashion. "What did you do to me, _glitch_?"

"T... Taffyta, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"_Get out of here_!" Taffyta roared, stomping forward. Vanellope turned and fled without another word, and Taffyta was left alone with fear-driven anger still boiling in her code.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Vanellope glanced up, giving Taffyta her boredest look before going back to trying to fit a broken axle together. She had long ago perfected her brave front, and they both knew Taffyta was reluctant to touch her.

"Oh, just messin' around. Wanna see?"

Taffyta eyed the axle dubiously and snorted.

"Junk for junk. Whatever, Vanellope. As long as you're not getting any ideas."

Vanellope stared her a moment, cradling the parts in her lap.

"You know me better than that, Taffyta."

Taffyta couldn't argue the point; Vanellope never stopped, no matter what they said or did, no matter how far behind she fell. Comparing it to race standings rang uncomfortably true, so she reached forward to take the parts from Vanellope's hands.

"Yeah well, don't get any ideas, I don't need you ruining _my_ races."

"Hey!" Vanellope fought back, tugging against Taffyta. "Give it back, you're gonna break it!"

She glitched. To Taffyta's horror the axle provided enough contact to glitch her too.

Clarity rippled through her with the glitches.

_Vanellope! Vanellope I'm so sorry I don't know what's happening something is wrong something is wrong something is_-

The glitches stopped. Taffyta was left with the feeling that something was horribly wrong.

_The glitch_ did something to her. That had to be it.

"You can't be a racer," she ground out, "and you're not gonna ruin _my_ code too." A quick wrench broke the newly repaired axle, and Vanellope cried out in dismay as Taffyta turned and stomped away.

* * *

"I just wanna race like you guys!"

Vanellope's voice was thick with impending tears as she grabbed Taffyta, trying to pull her away from the shattered remains of the Lickety Split.

In her distress she glitched. Taffyta glitched with her, and went cold with horror as she realized what she was doing.

How had this happened? When she found out, she'd...

It was gone. Only the horror and anger were left, and she advanced on Vanellope with clenched fists.

"You will never be a racer." _I'm not going to let you do this to me anymore._ "Because you're a _glitch_, and that's all you'll _ever_ be."

In a way, she was almost relieved when the giant from another game came roaring over the hill.

It gave her an excuse to flee, to be away from Vanellope and whatever awful things she was inflicting on Taffyta with those glitches.

* * *

The last time clarity came, it wasn't a flash.

It didn't fade.

Vanellope was standing there in a ridiculous lacey pink and white dress, and this time she was the one who looked confused and perhaps even a little frightened.

And Taffyta was stumbling over her apologies, afraid Vanellope would think she was only apologizing because she thought she was in trouble.

The execution joke, poor as it was, wasn't the only reason she was crying, and she didn't know how to articulate it to Vanellope.

How to tell her that she'd _known_, almost - she'd known all along and just never been able to remember after those few moments.

How to explain how misdirected fear and anger had driven her whenever she happened onto Vanellope.

How to make it up to her.

Still, when Vanellope's new friends left the president turned to Taffyta with a smile she'd seen many times before - hopeful and friendly, tinged with wariness, and Taffyta smiled back before they all headed back to their karts.

She _would_ make it up to her, and she would see to it that Vanellope was never out in the cold again.


	26. Date

Felix was always smiling and happy when he came to Hero's Duty to help with after-hours cleanup, but today he looked especially pleased with himself. Sergeant Calhoun studied him a long moment, brows raised, and then stepped forward as the beginnings of a smile crept onto her face.

"All right, pintsize - spit it out."

"Oh, it can wait, ma'am." He chuckled, shrugging a bit as he checked his ammo clip; she knew he'd done so at least three times on the way in, but he was nothing if not conscientious and seemed to simply enjoy handling the gun she'd had made for him. "Anythin' movin' out there? You had gameplay right before closing, didn't you?"

"We did - final beacon should have taken care of things." She nodded once, shouldering her weapon as she headed out onto the game's blasted terrain with Felix at her side. "Never hurts to have one last check, though."

"Understood, ma'am." He hopped onto her cruiser with her, fidgeting even as his face creased with concentration; Calhoun kept glancing at him when she could risk it as they made their way over their well-practiced patrol route, wondering just what had him in such a mood.

He was never able to keep a secret long; she silently bet herself that she'd have it out of him before they finished the perimeter.

* * *

She was wrong. Their patrol was finished, and no amount of gentle needling or outright demands had gotten Felix to reveal what he was up to; all Calhoun knew was that they weren't going to the Random Roster Race, instead leading her off to a game she'd never given a second glance. Like Tapper's, the gateway deposited them inside a building, though this one was small and quiet with light filtering gently through large windows and a scent of coffee and pastries permeating the air.

"It's... a cafe."

"Yes ma'am." Felix pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit; she did, absently reaching out to touch the small flower arrangement on the table. "Seems a good place for a first date."

She rolled her eyes, though she couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"Felix - we're _engaged_."

"That we are." He beamed at her, cheeks aglow as he touched the dogtags nestled under his left glove. "But the fact is, we never had a proper date. Home cookin', patrols, hittin' the races, but nothin' like this."

"Ah." Calhoun nodded as he sat. "You shoulda told me. You're supposed to dress to impress on the first date."

"Tammy Jean." He pushed the flower arrangement aside so he could clasp her hands across the table. "I was impressed the _very_ second I saw you, and I am impressed every single day since."

She stared at him, giving his hands a squeeze as she felt her cheeks heat.

"Well, I uh... me too. You too. _Damn it_ Fix-it!"

He chuckled at her flustered floundering, and she glared at him before laughing ruefully herself.

"I sound like a damned schoolgirl."

"That bad?"

Calhoun considered a moment before leaning forward to kiss the tip of his nose.

"Nah. So - first date. You could have at least asked me out. You know, the proper way?"

He grinned, head tilting slightly.

"All right. Tammy Jean, will you do the favor of goin' on a date with me?"

She squeezed his hands again, raising her brows.

"What'll you do if I say no?"

"Ask again tomorrow."

"And if I say yes?"

"Ask again tomorrow."

Calhoun laughed, leaning forward again; this time, he met her halfway and it was several moments before they pulled apart.

"All right - yes. But next time, Fix-it? _I_ get to pick the spot."


	27. Double Dipped

"Hey, Ralph - do you like riding while I drive?"

"Sure, between long stretches of fearing for my life."

Vanellope punched the side of Ralph's head, the impact barely more than a pat.

"Come on, I'm serious here!"

"Yeah? So am I."

Ralph looked over at Vanellope with a faint grin, taking in her narrow-eyed pout. She didn't smile back, instead scruching her face up to further exaggerate the expression, and he stifled a chuckle.

"All right, all right. I like riding the kart, and seeing as you haven't rammed us into any stalagmites in while I don't actually fear for my life _that_ much."

"_You_ ran us into the stalagmite."

"A lot of stalagmites were hit that day. Why do you need to know anyhow?"

"Weeee-eeeell." She was smiling again, glitching down from his shoulder so she could look squarely up at him with the most appealing expression she could muster. "I had a really good idea. I was thinking, we could race together. Yanno, just little after-hours stuff when the Random Roster Race is over? On the easier tracks?"

"Uh huh." He eyed her skeptically. "You want to race with me weighing down your go-kart and screwing with your, uh, aerodynamic?"

"Yup!" Vanellope nodded fervently.

"Okay. Why?"

"So you can throw things at other racers." Ralph stared at her, brows raised, and she hurried to elaborate. "I mean, you know, like we do with power-ups! Only throwing pies and stuff! And everyone else can have a partner and Felix and Sarge can play too! I just, you know, I thought..." She shuffled her feet, looking at him sidelong as she toyed with her fingers. "I like racing and you're my best friend, so I thought it'd be cool to do it together, like when you piled up those bricks so I could try out wrecking."

Ralph sighed; when she got _that_ look it was all but impossible to resist her, and he suspected she was starting to realize that.

"All right, kid. We'll work out some rules and see how it plays out."

* * *

The rules for the doubles races were simple enough to work out. It was unanimously decided that no normal power-ups would be used; they were both redundant and too dangerous to racers from outside Sugar Rush. This was easy enough to set up, since the game's normal player versus player mode already had an option to disable power-ups and it was simple to activate the option for an after-hours race.

Once that was done someone pointed out that they needed _some_ way to determine when the passenger was allowed to use their ammunition. Leaving pies and other objects on the track was swiftly vetoed, but a few of the racers - Crumbelina, Snowanna, Candlehead, and to everyone's surprise Swizzle - turned out to be good with crafts and after a few tries managed to construct sugar-wafer blocks that would harmlessly break apart when hit by a kart. Referees were quickly recruited from normal track staff and candy fans to be sure ammunition was only used when a team had a power-up to their name, and a few of the more intrepid track staffers volunteered to replace the blocks between laps.

The easiest was selecting tracks. There were a handful of official easy mode tracks deemed safe enough for foreign characters; Vanellope immediately added her Diet Cola Mountain training track to the list, and Ralph agreed to construct a second in the junkyard to give them a decent variety.

All the while, Vanellope spent a short time each day practicing with Ralph to better adjust to the added weight and get him more fully adjusted to the swift turns of a race.

And finally, not quite two weeks after she initially asked, Vanellope declared them all ready for Sugar Rush Double Dipped.

* * *

The inaugural Double Dipped race had five teams competing: Ralph and Vanellope, Snowanna and Adorabeezle, Sticky and Swizzle, Taffyta and Rancis, and the surprise team of Calhoun and Felix on Calhoun's cruiser, prompting a brief debate amongst the racers before the cruiser was declared valid.

"You guys really should make a go-kart, though," Vanellope told them. "Me and Stinkbrain'll help!"

The five teams lined up at Sweet Ride's starting line, and Candlehead trotted to the side of the track carrying a large green flag. After flourishing it a few times at the gathering of curious spectators she finally lowered it, and the five teams took off.

Even with the heaviest teammate, Vanellope pulled quickly into the lead while behind her Ralph gripped the sides of the spoiler and leaned forward for balance. Not long into the race she shattered one of the makeshift power-up boxes, and Ralph hefted a pie in one hand.

"All right, kid, who am I gunning for?"

"I dunno. You're the gunner, so go ahead and gun!"

Ralph harrumphed quietly, but turned to take stock of the approaching teams. Sticky and Swizzle were out front; he took careful aim and let loose with his pie.

Sticky swerved aside easily, grinning at him as they passed, and Vanellope groaned.

"You _missed_ them!"

"Well I haven't exactly had a lot of target practice-look out!" He ducked as Swizzle retaliated; the gelatin cubes soared over his head to hit Snowanna, who shrieked and braked as the green goop spread across her goggles. "Besides, he missed too."

"Yeah, well, he hit _someone_."

"Will you pipe down and drive? They're getting away!"

Vanellope shifted and accelerated in answer, aiming for another power-up cube. Just before she hit it a softened truffle exploded against the back of her head and she went wild, missing the cube entirely.

"Felix...!"

"Sorry, gumdrop!" Felix chirped as he and Calhoun closed in.

"Hey, that was pretty good shootin'!"

"_Ralph_, don't encourage him!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

By the second lap, things were starting to degenerate; the teams were collecting power-up blocks and shooting for the fun of it instead of the intended purpose of thwarting other karts. Most of the racers were covered in various kinds of sweet - even Calhoun was not unscathed, and was even laughing as more of Swizzle's jello burst against her hair. Rancis yelped in dismay as Ralph finally landed a hit, lemon cream spreading over his dark clothing, and Taffyta shrieked in protest when he tried to wipe it off on her.

"Hey! I'm driving! We're _winning_, Rancis!"

"Not for long!" Vanellope called. She struck another cube as they came up on Taffyta's kart; instead of throwing the fresh pie Ralph simply reached out and smushed it onto her helmet, and Vanellope giggled wickedly as they sped ahead.

"Almost on the last lap, Ralph - think you can avoid hitting yourself?"

"Keep that up and I might hit us just because."

"Yeah, yeah." She turned just long enough to stick her tongue out at him, and squawked as another of Felix's truffles struck. Ralph chuckled, poking her lightly.

"Eyes front. Those two aren't that close, but Taffyta's coming again."

"Pff, I can beat her." Vanellope accelerated into the final lap, slipping easily into Race Mode. Behind them, Taffyta was coming up fast, Rancis hefting a cream pie of his own. When he tossed it, Ralph simply batted it away, and by sheer luck it bounced back to hit Taffyta squarely in the face; Ralph winced and chuckled, turning to look ahead again as they approached the finish line.

Then a scoop of ice cream nearly the size of his head struck the back of his neck. He jerked forward in surprise and bumped Vanellope, who was jostled enough to jerk the wheel to the side, and Snowanna and Adorabeezle blew by to cross the finish line first as Candlehead wildly waved a checkered flag. Vanellope got her kart under control and crossed second, and Ralph sighed as they rolled to a stop.

"Sorry about that, kid."

"About what?" Vanellope bounced out of the kart, laughing as she spread her arms to show off a healthy coating of chocolate, jello, ice cream, and other detritus. "That was great! Look at us - see, everyone wins!"

"Well..." Ralph looked around at the excited kids, laughing Felix, and quietly grinning Calhoun, and laughed himself. "I guess, if you say so."

"I do, so there!" She grinned, head tilting. "So - we'll do it again tomorrow?"

He grinned, smushing a leftover pie onto her with all due ceremony.

"Sure, kid. Tomorrow."


	28. Bedtime Story

"Hey, Ralph?"

Vanellope crept up on the wrecker, nightgown rustling around her feet, and tapped his hand lightly. Ralph turned and knelt, holding out a hand, and she climbed up and settled.

"Hey kid. All ready for bed?" She nodded, and he eyed her outfit a moment. "I thought you didn't like all that frilly princess stuff?"

"First of all, it's frilly _president_ stuff now. Second of all, that's not the problem - I just don't like stuff that's heavy. Or itchy. Or stupid-looking."

"Okay, that's fair." Ralph stood, grinning. "All right, President Frillyfoof, which way to the presidential chambers?"

"Down from the throne room, first on the left." Vanellope was quiet for several steps, then reached to tap his thumb. "Hey Ralph, y'know something?"

"If you're going to ask me if I know what else 'throne' means..."

"That's _not_ it." She huffed, rolling her eyes, though she couldn't completely stifle a grin. "Anyway, it's... well, y'know. I was thinking about... stuff. I mean there's a lot of stuff I didn't really have before and I do now! Y'know?"

"Yeah," Ralph said after a moment. "Me too."

She smiled a little, fidgeting.

"Anyway, I was thinking... one of the things I've never had before is, um, a bedtime story."

"Oh." Ralph paused outside her bedroom door, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "I'm, uh, not much good with... stories and stuff..."

"Well maybe, but before you said you didn't make stuff, and now I have the greatest go-kart in the game - in the whole arcade!"

He hesitated briefly before looking down at her wide, bright eyes and faint smile.

"Oh... well, all right." He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "But not promises."

"I know, I know. Now tuck me in!"

"Sheesh, give you a bit of power and you're bossier than ever." He obliged as he spoke, grinning slightly.

"Well sure - now I'm the _boss_. All right, story!"

"Right, right. Story." Ralph settled beside the bed, drumming his fingers on the floor as he thought. "Let's see, uh... once upon a time there was a... a princess."

"Bo-_ring_."

He rolled his eyes, nudging her lightly with a bulky forefinger.

"All right, all right, she wasn't a princess. She was... um... a dragon?" He waited for Vanellope's approving nod before continuing. "Right. A dragon. And she lived way out in a volcano, only coming out to snack on the occasional house."

Vanellope giggled at that, and Ralph grinned back.

"Anyway, she was there in that volcano, until one day a hobo-"

"Knight."

"Hey - who's telling the story?"

"I know, I know." Vanellope leaned forward a bit. "But he's definitely a knight."

Ralph was quiet a moment. Then he smiled again, nodding.

"Okay - you win. He's a knight. Anyway, the knight wandered into the dragon's kingdom because he was looking for a treasure..."

"Is this gonna end with the dragon being the treasure?"

"Maybe," Ralph said, shrinking a bit where he sat. Vanellope raised a brow and he grimaced. "Okay, yes - that a problem, your excellence?"

"No," Vanellope murmured after a moment. "No, actually I like that."

"Good. So, uh... that's the story."

"Hey, wait!" Vanellope hopped to her feet in bed. "I wanna hear the rest!"

"What?" Ralph stopped in the middle of getting up. "But you know the ending already..."

"Yeah, but I still wanna hear the middle. C'mon, Ralph!"

"I..." Ralph stared at her a moment before smiling, settling back down. "All right, all right. You can even keep helping me, okay?"

"You bet I will!"

"Okay then. So, the knight and the dragon met in the dragon's forest, and he tried to convince her he belonged there..."

"Yeah, like she was gonna believe that."

"Look, I know I said you could help but can I maybe get a sentence out?"

Vanellope giggled, eyes shining as she pressed her hands over her mouth, and Ralph continued his story.


	29. End of the Line

"Has anyone seen Vanellope? Our first opening is in two hours - she'll miss the racer meeting."

King Candy frowned slightly as the Oreo guards exchanged glances and then all answered negatively. Vanellope had been so excited about their game's debut, had been the one to insist on a meeting of the racers beforehand - and quite aside from that, it simply wasnt like her to vanish without sight or sound. The Princess of Sugar Rush was a gregarious show-off, and a disappearance like this usually meant _something_ was up.

Probably nothing to worry about. She was probably showing off her kart and the tracks to Turbo - the racer from an unplugged game who'd appeared only minutes after they were plugged in - and would come tearing in any moment, half-tripping over her dress or pulling on her racing gloves as she arrived.

"Sir?"

"Oh, Sour Bill!" He turned toward the royal assistant with a smile; if anyone knew where his granddaughter was it would be the sour candy that pattered patiently after the both of them with schedules and reminders and the attention span the von Schweetzes couldn't always muster. "Have you seen..."

King Candy trailed off, staring. Sour Bill was pale, visibly agitated, his sleepy eyes wide open as he held out something. Two somethings, striped pink and white.

Vanellope's wand, snapped cleanly in the center, the candy head of it cracked as if she'd been striking at something, and King Candy went sick and cold with dread.

* * *

The trail was easy to follow. It was the strange racer, and he wanted to be followed; after quickly assuring himself that the other racers were safe King Candy took Duncan, Wynchell, and a small unit of castle guards to oblige.

He couldn't fathom what Turbo could possibly want; when he'd arrived, looking distinctly worse for wear, King Candy and Vanellope had immediately invited him to reside in Sugar Rush, even offering the possibility of after-hours racers for a character they suspected had lost his game to make way for theirs. Turbo had seemed pleased at the invitation and had readily accepted, listening to their descriptions of game mechanics with interest.

What had changed?

None of that mattered right now. Their path led out of the game and King Candy moved forward in trepidation, waving for silence from his guards and trying not to consider what he might find in the outlet. After a moment he steeled himself and stepped across the border, squinting in the sudden dimness.

"Grampa..."

Vanellope was there, unharmed but white and wide-eyed, her voice an uncertain squeak.

Turbo was just behind her, yellow eyes shining in the darkness. He was smiling almost jovially, the shadows and his firm grip on the back of Vanellope's neck giving the expression a sinister cast. King Candy started forward, gripping his cane like a miniature quarterstaff, and Vanellope yelped as Turbo squeezed her neck sharply.

He froze, at a loss. Turbo could kill her out here and might just try it, and he had no idea whether he could reach them in time or what makeshift weapons Turbo might hold.

"Let go of her, Turbo."

He tried to keep his voice calm, reasonable. Turbo's smile grew into a sneer.

"Or you'll _what_?"

Vanellope tried to move forward, whimpering as Turbo tightened his grip again, and King Candy shifted his grip on his cane as he looked at her.

"It's all right, Vanellope." It was more plea than reassurance, and he looked at Turbo again. "What do you want with her?"

"Her?" Turbo shrugged lazily. "I don't care two bytes about your obnoxious candybrat. But I'll bet _one_ of you can do something for me."

"You were welcomed into our game, Turbo. There was no _need_ for this. Let go of her, and we'll talk."

"Sure, just me and you and your stupid cookie battalion." Turbo's expression shifted slightly, almost apprehensive, and King Candy took another step forward before the moment passed. "Get rid of 'em."

King Candy hesitated, but at another cry from Vanellope waved the guards off; they wouldn't go far, and as soon as he had Vanellope back they could deal with this treacherous racer.

"What is it you want, then?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Turbo paused, smiling again. "Where's your coderoom, old man? Or maybe _she_ knows? One or both of you has to be a character with that kind of authority."

"The code?" King Candy thought quickly. Games made by the same company tended to have the same passcode, but there were so many companies that it was unlikely Turbo had the same manufacturer; even if he did, King Candy couldn't imagine what he thought he might do in the code, what he thought he'd gain.

If he could just get him to let go of Vanellope, then the guards could come in to help them and it would be a moot point.

If.

"All right," he said at last. "Just let go of Vanellope. Please."

Turbo shook his head.

"I'm not that stupid, old man. Show me first."

King Candy nodded slowly, and even seeing Vanellope dragged back into the relatively safe Sugar Rush did little to reassure him.

* * *

Turbo still hadn't let go of Vanellope when they reached the hidden corridor behind the throne; King Candy was beginning to despair of ever getting a chance to get her out of his grasp.

Just as he was thinking it they came to the lock on the code itself. Turbo stepped up to it, muttering as he finally released the princess.

"Tobikomi, isn't it... that's lucky."

King Candy winced at that, a brief stab of horror thrumming through him. Still, Vanellope was free, and he carefully moved between her and Turbo.

"Go and get the guards," he muttered. "Hurry - I'll do my best to keep him busy here."

"But-"

"It will be all right, Vanellope. I promise you, everything is going to be fine." He lifted her chin briefly, giving her a nervous smile before taking her gently by the shoulders to turn her around. "Now go."

She nodded, and scurried off as he turned back to the lock. Turbo seemed to be having trouble, cursing under his breath; despite his remark he didn't seem to quite know the code, and King Candy began to relax.

Then Turbo rummaged in the pockets of his tracksuit, producing a small scrap of paper. Seconds later the vault opened, and King Candy moved toward him.

"Just what do you think-"

He froze, staring as Turbo dove into the code untethered; it was almost tempting to lock him in there, but he needed to see if the racer actually _did_ anything so it could be repaired later.

Get him out and throw him in the Fungeon when the guards arrived; for now, he needed to see if any damage was-

A sudden shock of pain brought King Candy to his knees, a strange fizzling rippling through his skull. After a moment he crept forward again, using the open vault door to get to his feet even as smaller shocks ripping through him.

Turbo was deep in the code - in _his_ code, tearing at wires.

He started to cry out, and then Turbo ripped out one last wire, sending one last agonizing jolt through King Candy.

And the king found he couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even shift his eyes from what was happening.

Turbo was still in the code, reconnecting wires here and there.

Then he vanished, and though King Candy still couldn't move he realized he was raising his hands to examine them.

"It worked. I'll be damned, it actually worked. End of the line, old man - I've got it covered from here."

King Candy was speaking, but it wasn't his words, and with a sick sinking feeling he realized where Turbo had gone.

The other racer had somehow merged himself into his code, had taken over, and there was nothing King Candy could do as his own voice told the guards that Turbo had overpowered him and fled, as Turbo coaxed Sour Bill into tethering him as he entered the code to remove Sugar Rush's memories of the incident, as he went down to the races as if nothing was wrong.

Only Vanellope seemed to suspect, watching him with growing suspicion as the day wore on.

King Candy consoled himself with the thought that she was safe.

He had no way of predicting what would happen when Turbo realized King Candy wasn't officially a racer.


	30. Anniversary

At first, they considered meeting at Ralph's house, but they quickly decided that anywhere in Ralph and Felix's game was too prone to interruption from Nicelanders.

Hero's Duty was obviously out of the question.

Felix suggested the Laffy Taffy, but this was vetoed by Calhoun on the grounds that their singing gave her migraines.

And the castle was nice enough, but like Niceland a touch too public.

So in the end, the little family gathered in their usual hideaway, sitting together under an unfinished racetrack to watch Mentos falling into the Diet Cola Hot Springs.

"A whole year, huh?" Vanellope said after several long minutes of silence. She was huddled into Ralph's side, Calhoun leaning lightly against him on the other side with Felix nestled in her lap. "That's no time at all."

"Feels like forever, though," Felix said slowly. He caught hold of Calhoun's hand and squeezed it, and she nodded slowly.

"Forever doesn't sound so bad." Calhoun shrugged slightly. "Not like we've got less."

Felix smiled at that and said nothing.

"Okay, so!" Vanellope hopped to her feet, peering at the other three. "How do we celebrate one year of forever?"

For a moment, the three adults only stared at her.

"Well," Ralph said after a moment. "Isn't just... y'know... being here together enough?"

"I dunno. I mean, I guess it's nice and all, but... it seems like something should _happen_, yanno?"

"Like what?" Felix smiled a little, getting to his feet. "Got somethin' in mind, gumdrop?"

"Well... maybe." Vanellope was silent a moment. "You won't laugh?"

"Hey. When was the last time we laughed at something you did?" Ralph asked. He paused as Vanellope stared at him. "I mean when you were being serious."

"Hm." Vanellope pursed her lips, but let it drop readily. "Well... I remember. A whole year... and I've got stuff for you. All of you. So no laughing. Okay?"

There was a long silence, but after a moment the three adults nodded slowly, murmuring their affirmatives as Vanellope scurried to her little candy lean-to.

"Okay. Okay, good. You first, Sarge - commere."

Calhoun stood, glancing at Ralph and Felix before going to Vanellope. She crouched as she reached the little racer, and Vanellope smiled as she pressed something into her hand.

"It's a good luck charm - good for a whole year, so you have to come back next year for a new one. Got it?"

"Yeah," Calhoun said after a moment. "I got it." She opened her hand to examine the thing - a small cookie badge with a crossed-out icing drawing of a bug. "Thanks, Cavities."

"Noooo problem." Vanellope flashed her a crooked grin, head tilting as she glanced at Felix. "You next, Hammerman. Commere."

Felix was already standing, and smiled as he approached Vanellope. When he reached her he crouched slightly to match her height and placed his cap on her head, and she grinned at him from under the bill.

"Here you go. Keep it safe, okay? Only for emergencies."

She placed another cookie in his hand, this one rounded with a drawing of a hammer and bricks, and Felix smiled as he took it.

"You got it, gumdrop. Emergency use only."

"Yeah, so long as we understand each other." She grinned at him before turning to Ralph. "As for_you_..."

Ralph smiled, sweeping out a hand to scoop Vanellope up.

"What if I told you I got everything I need here?"

She made a face at him, scrunching her nose and sticking her tongue out.

"Don't get mushy on me, Ralph. Now I _know_ nothing could be as great as the hero medal I gave you..."

"You got that right."

"No interruputing. I'm the president here." She folded her arms. brows raising as she balanced at ease on his palm. Then she grinned, beckoning for him to lean close.

"I got nothing as good as your medal. But here."

She leaned up to settle a paper crown on his head, grinning as she arranged it carefully over his hair, and then glitched back for a better look.

"Perfect! Because, I mean, if the code says I'm a princess, then you're... well... something. I mean you all are, but... y'know."

"Yeah," Ralph said after a long moment. "I know."

"Good." Vanellope nodded firmly before scurrying back to her little hut. "Now - for our first anniversary, we all gotta make something. So come on!"

The parchment paper she produced was a big enough canvas for even Ralph; the four of them spent all night on it, each drawing the other three at least once, and when the night drew to a close with Vanellope asleep on her spongecake bed the other three hung their picture up.

Other anniversaries came and went, and the group-effort portraits became a tradition among them. But for all the years to come that first stretch of parchment paper hung in a place of honor in Diet Cola Mountain.

None of them would have it any other way.


End file.
